A no-holds-barred battle appears to have broken out over Apple’s Vision Pro. Mark Zuckerberg, founder, and CEO, of Meta, believed that Apple’s recently unveiled mixed-reality headset provided “no magical solutions”. In contrast, tech maverick Elon Musk poked fun at the pricing of the product. Apple in its recently concluded Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) announced its first augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) headset, Vision Pro, for $3,499.
A potential competition to Meta’s Quest and the upcoming Quest 3, Zuckerberg in a companywide meeting said that Vision Pro did not provide any “magical solution” that Meta has not already explored, The Verge reported.
“They went with a higher resolution display, and between that and all the technology they put in there to power it, it costs seven times more and now requires so much energy that you need a battery and a wire attached to it. They made that design trade-off and it might make sense for the cases that they’re going for,” Zuckerberg was quoted as saying in the report. Meta’s Quest is priced at $499, much cheaper than Apple’s Vision Pro. According to reports, the Quest 3 is expected to be priced at $500, which means Meta may manage to garner a market share. In the meeting, Zuckerberg said Meta, so far, has sold tens of millions of Quests.
“I think that their announcement showcases the difference in the values and the vision that our companies bring to this in a way that I think is really important. We innovate to make sure that our products are as accessible and affordable to everyone as possible, and that is a core part of what we do,” he said. While Zuckerberg and Musk may have their view, analysts believe that Apple could still have a winning hand. “While the Vision Pro might not drive significant volumes given its premium price point, it could be the potential catalyst for the AR/VR market as Apple has proven in the past that consumer engagement can deliver willingness to pay premium pricing and Apple’s focus is clearly to hit a home-run on consumer engagement as opposed to volumes with the first device in what admittedly will be a multi-year journey for the platform,” said a JP Morgan report.
