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The travel point is a legitimate one. This is less a device to look at code, and more a device to look at people and presentations. Practically every Fortune 50
by btown 3y ago
The travel point is a legitimate one. This is less a device to look at code, and more a device to look at people and presentations. Practically every Fortune 500 executive will have one of these because they'll be able to immerse themselves while jetting around the world - neither limited to a laptop screen, nor to a cartoon environment where people don't have legs, but in a truly effective war room that interleaves live video conversations, presentations, dashboards/visualizations, and their physical travel companions.
Or, at least, they'll want the ability to brag to their peers that they can do these things! It's the Apple playbook, and it will create a tremendous amount of envy. If it's at a price that's profitable, it can sustainably anchor their reputation even if it never goes mainstream.
- aarkling 3y ago> Practically every Fortune 500 executive will have one of these Even if that's true, that's only like ~50k people lol.
- fragmede 3y agoI mean if every single one of them buy only one of them, that's only $175 million dollars right there. Totally not worth it for Apple to bother even trying
- DrBenCarson 3y agoHave you considered this is a beta product for the cheaper mass market versions coming in 1-2 years?
- IOT_Apprentice 3y agoApple's first year sales of their watch was a failure with 10 million units sold instead of the projected 40 million. Apple now has 34% of global market share. Now remember Steve Ballmer laughing at it. It is not the 1st generation of most of their products, but the follow ons. I'll wait to see what the first months of hands on reviews and perhaps a personal demo. How heavy is that headset and how long is the battery life (I thought I saw 2 hours)? Time will tell.
- Apocryphon 3y agoThe Apple Watch has truly succeeded in the smartwatch space, but is the smartwatch space even worth a damn yet? Or is it perpetually waiting for the opportunity to monetize users’ health data and other tracked biometrics, for it to really be profitable.
- 2muchcoffeeman 3y agoMaybe this “space” thinking is wrong. Don’t worry about the “smart watch space”. Worry about making a product that will make a bucket load of cash. Does it matter if the sector is worth much overall when you rake it a butt load of money for yourself?
- Apocryphon 3y agoThat’s what I’m getting at. Is the smartwatch market in general really worth all that much money?
- bryanrasmussen 3y agohttps://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-health/digital-fitness-well-being/digital-fitness-well-being-devices/smartwatches/worldwide https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-health/digital-... Revenue in the Smartwatches segment is projected to reach US$44.91bn in 2023. Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2027) of 8.26%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$61.69bn by 2027.
- NavinF 3y agoAnecdotally, the Apple Watch is very popular in the bay area. I'd be very suspicious of any claim that Apple didn't make boatloads of money selling it
- pfannkuchen 3y agoNeither butts nor boats are all that large though. Even if Apple has made both boat loads and butt loads of money, we would need to be talking about gigabutts or kiloboats to get anywhere meaningful.
- toyg 3y agoF500 executives tend to have people who will show these presentations on big screens, in rooms they can just stroll into (and out of). And they don't want to strap anything to their face, particularly something that might (horror!) upset their carefully-placed hair.
- saiya-jin 3y agoYeah that comment is desperately out of touch with reality. I presume the person never actually met/dealt with these folks, for them it would be humiliating to wear it and to be seen wearing it, Apple badge or not doesn't matter. For those levels, carrying >100k watches and having plastic ski goggles on your head? Forget it, anywhere where others can see them. Maybe this mindset changes in decade or two, but not earlier. Generally on the topic, its rather underwhelming release of device that is searching for its market (while usual Apple echo chamber here on HN sees it as second coming of Jesus). No wonder they scrapped the release few times in the past, it must have been properly underwhelming when compared to competition. And pathetic 2h battery life at best? That makes it useless for any longer flight (I am sure you can plug powerbank and continue but it will look pretty bad and annoying as hell). I am sure Apple will tune software to perfection, but I can't see it being enough, market is tiny considering the investment, well saturated and from what I heard rather shrinking. But I hope they will push the market in some good direction long term with their creative approach, so we all can benefit eventually.
- dfjklseldklk 3y agoYou could have described BlackBerry in similar terms pre 2008
- ethbr0 3y agoThe difference is that Blackberry let you do something you couldn't before. Which is this entire thread -- what can you do with AR that you couldn't before?
- 3y ago
- rchaud 3y agoThis sounds a lot like the use cases stated for the office metaverse thing FB was pushing that failed to materialize. The last thing executives want is a "more immersive" PowerPoint or Zoom call. It's either Zoom or in-person with all the trimmings, e.g. nice dinner, round of golf.
- bryanrasmussen 3y ago>This sounds a lot like the use cases stated for the office metaverse thing FB was pushing that failed to materialize. Apple might be a company that is better at implementing hardware and platforms than other companies, especially Facebook.
- maybelsyrup 3y ago> Fortune 500 executive > they'll be able to immerse themselves while jetting around the world > a truly effective war room that interleaves live video conversations, presentations, dashboards/visualizations, and their physical travel companions This is the world we make, and it's for them!
- eru 3y agoIt's yet another way for executives to torture themselves. Don't envy them.
- kaba0 3y agoSo.. a whopping low 1000s devices will sold as per this business plan?
- deafpolygon 3y agoThey will sell much, much more than this. All the wannabe startups and bigwig CEOs will line up to buy this, even if they can't afford it. All that matters is the image.
- nasmorn 3y agoAny business that has a CEO can afford this.
- kaba0 3y agoWhich would still make it a huge loss for apple.
- deafpolygon 3y agoAnd all the diehard mac fans, YouTubers and such that will be talking it up for the next 2-3 years, building up the hype train, until Apple drops a $400 version for consumers.
- l33tman 3y agoBut I'm genuinely curious, why would the bigwig CEOs buy this if they didn't buy the Quest 2 or other previous headsets that could do the same things? You could do the cinema and virtual desktop and zoom calls with the Quest. Why is the market much larger for the Apple headset compared to the others? Except for the initial hype of "I need this new apple device" I mean. The other headset manufacturers have been searching for the killer apps for years, both in gaming and pro usages, both with AR and VR. I didn't see anything in the Apple presentation that was new. It seemed contrived, like this woman who accidentally had the big headset on her head while she was packing a bag and therefore could take a call that hovers in the air. I just don't buy that (and neither does the various YT influencers I've seen reviewing the Vision Pro).
- jamesrcole 3y ago> This is less a device to look at code why though?
- noam_compsci 3y agoI don’t think F500 execs spend as much time looking at monitors and slides as you may think. Also people travel to see them, so face to face is unlikely to be a benefit to them. Also, it’s a huge expensive gadget in a time of austerity. If your 100+ execs get one of these, it won’t look good to shareholders IMO.
- piva00 3y agoUS$ 3.5k per executive is less than what is spent on their secretaries per month, it's absolutely doable even more as it becomes tax-deductible opex. US$ 350.000 is nothing if your company has 100+ executives, let's be realistic.
- shubb 3y agoHow well do that work on planes? People who tested quest on planes found that the motion of the plane interfered and made it unusable.
- agentgumshoe 3y agoNah, it'll mess up their hair.
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoI guess then sales of 5,000 of these are guaranteed. Somehow that’s a bit lower than I would guess apple hopes for.