Recently, Apple's first head display device, Vision Pro, launched a pre-sale poster in the Apple Store in the United States.
It is understood that Vision Pro will be officially released in the United States on February 2nd, and pre orders will begin on Friday, January 19th, starting at $3499. Among the first batch of content providers, in addition to Apple's own Apple TV+, there are streaming services such as Max and Disney+from HBO.
According to incomplete statistics from Xingkuang, 36 listed companies are involved in VR/MR content production and equipment research and development in their business scope. According to reporter statistics, there are many Chinese listed companies in the supply chain of Vision Pro, including Zhaowei Electromechanical, Lansi Technology, Changying Precision, Desai Battery, Xinwangda, Pengding Holdings, Lixun Precision, etc.
Industry insiders believe that the shipment volume of the first batch of Vision Pro is relatively small, mainly for developers, so more attention should be paid to enterprises developing applications for Vision Pro. In addition, due to the relatively high price of the Apple Vision Pro, it is more like a product in the Apple verification market and closer to consumer "flat replacement" products, which may be the main force in shipping volume.
Opportunities exist for developing ecosystems beyond the supply chain
Vision Pro made its debut at the WWDC Apple Software Developers Conference in June 2023. It was Apple's first MR hardware product since the launch of the augmented reality development tool AR Kit in 2017. Apple stated that the first batch of Vision Pro was mainly aimed at developers. The industry has paid very high attention to this.
According to public information, there are many Chinese listed companies in the supply chain of Vision Pro, including Zhaowei Electromechanical in the pupil distance adjustment module segment, Lansi Technology in the front cover glass, camera lenses, and lens film segment, Changying Precision in the metal frame segment, Desai Battery and Xinwangda in the external battery pack segment, Pengding Holdings in the PCB+FPC segment, and Lixun Precision in the assembly segment.
Guo Minggui, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, posted on X on the 9th that Apple's Vision Pro should sell out quickly after its listing and will need to wait for a long time to restock. At the same time, due to its hardware and software specifications that exceed the industry average, users may have a stunning first impression, but whether the demand heat can continue after the novelty fades is more important.
VR/AR industry investors told reporters: Due to the high pricing of Vision Pro, it is destined that it will not be a product with explosive shipment volume. I prefer to define it as the first iPhone. The increase in iPhone volume is accompanied by the increase in the number of apps in the App Store industry chain, and for hardware, without the combination of software, it cannot be aimed at the public. In the future, after mainstream apps enter the XR industry chain, XR products will truly advance from game consoles to iPads and even iPhones The scene opens, imagining a huge space
At the Q4 2023 performance meeting, Apple CEO Tim Cook also stated in an interview with reporters that Vision Pro will focus on showcasing in offline retail stores on the Apple Store, and Apple has set up laboratories around the world to facilitate developers to experience and master the application development process.
*List of Listed Companies with Apple Vision ProMR Content Involved in Business*
According to incomplete statistics from Xingkuang, 36 listed companies are involved in VR/MR content production and equipment research and development in their business scope. Four companies, including Tianyu Mathematical Technology, Fengyuzhu, Silk Road Vision, Jiachuang Video, and Alto Electronics, have either applied for a Vision Pro development machine or started Vision Pro content production and development.
An iOS developer told reporters, "The development of Vision Pro is based on Swift UI, RealityKit, and ARKit, which are relatively mature APIs. Apple has extended the framework for VisionOS to support new hardware and full space paradigms."
The developer added that VisionOS supports eye tracking, skeletal hand tracking, head tracking, and voice control, allowing developers to program entirely in virtual space. Even without a Vision Pro device, Xcode (a programming software on Apple) provides emulators and preview functionality. Essentially, application development on VisionOS is an extension of iOS and iPad OS.
Apple brings attention to "Pingti" and is closer to consumers
In the second half of 2023, a total of 15 brands in the global XR market released 18 new products, including 4 VR products and 14 AR products. Compared to Vision Pro, which often sells for tens of thousands of yuan, AR products launched by domestic enterprises are closer to ordinary consumers. In the second half of this year, the price range for domestic brand AR glasses is mostly between 2000 and 3000 yuan.
*List of prices for AR glasses on the market in 2023*
A VR/AR industry practitioner told reporters, "The core of Vision Pro lies in its high pricing, and the first batch of shipments rely on verification and (market) feedback. However, Apple has opened up the way, at least gaining attention and bringing potential customers. Users who cannot afford Vision Pro can choose to try it out on a trial basis."
At the recent CES 2024 event, the organizers counted over 350 AR/VR exhibitors, covering core components, optical solutions, content generation and production, human-computer interaction technology, and hardware. Many exhibitors will benchmark their new products against the Apple Head Display Vision Pro.
As stated by Skyworth, MR PANCAKE 2 is a representative product of Skyworth XR spatial computing devices, benchmarking against Apple Vision Pro. It is the world's first single eye 4K MR product after Apple Vision Pro; XREAL has launched the next generation of iterative spatial computing technology for developers, the XREAL Air 2 Ultra, which is said to have spatial functionality comparable to Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest.
Among them, Yidao Information's subsidiary Yijing Virtual has brought the first entry-level MR all-in-one machine with a brand new generation for consumers, equipped with Qualcomm XR dedicated chips, supporting 4K high-definition 120 inch large screen 3D viewing, and VST ground glass space display screen.
The virtual aspect of Yijing indicates that: "Our new product this time is an entry-level MR product with extremely high cost performance, which is similar to Apple's VisionPro and has a similar meaning to VisionSE. Apple's product is priced at $3499, and our customers' final selling price should be within $200. Apple's high-end luxury product line requires coordination between yield and supply chain, and we have mature technology and sufficient inventory to take orders this month."
According to data from the China Business Industry Research Institute, the global MR market size in 2022 is approximately 36.7 billion US dollars. It is expected that the global MR market size will reach 52.6 billion US dollars in 2023, and the MR market size will increase to 416.6 billion US dollars in 2029. In terms of the domestic market, the market size of China's MR industry is expected to reach approximately 4.859 billion yuan in 2023, 8.233 billion yuan in 2024, and 41.381 billion yuan in 2029.
Counterpoint forecasts show that the shipment volume of Extended Reality (XR) headsets is expected to increase by 3.9 million units in 2024, reaching a historic high and achieving double-digit year-on-year growth.