Apple released its quarterly results, but the biggest highlight was the announcement that the company is studying the potential of the Metaverse. According to CEO Tim Cook, the company plans to invest in this sector.
Apple plans
During the presentation of the results, Cook was asked by a shareholder if Apple plans to enter the Metaverse. In his response, the CEO stated:
“We see a lot of potential in this space and we are investing accordingly. We’re always exploring new and emerging technologies and I’ve talked at length about how exciting this is for us right now.”
As a result, the shares suffered a turnaround in the price, as the results were released after the stock exchange trading session. While trading was open, the stock was down about 3% to $159.22. However, shares soared 8% after trading and earnings to hit $167.23 after business hours. The Metaverse was just one of the topics discussed in the conference call.
Applications with access to Metaverse
Apparently, Apple already has concrete bets in this market, as Cook explained. The CEO said that the company already has around 14,000 apps on the App Store that were designed using the ARKit development platform.
This platform creates applications based on augmented reality (AR), one of Apple’s big bets. With AR, app users are able to gain access to the Metaverse.
On the other hand, Apple seeks to compete with companies that are already developing products for the Metaverse. One example is Meta, which plans to launch a headset called Oculus to immerse users in the Metaverse.
Apple also has a product in this sense scheduled to be released in 2022. This phone should be focused on games and content consumption. But Bloomberg reported that the launch could be delayed due to hardware and software challenges.
The world’s largest company by market value, Apple is falling behind other tech leaders like Meta and Microsoft, which are pushing ahead with public development plans in the Metaverse.
Microsoft, for example, acquired Activision Blizzard for US$70 billion with the aim of expanding games within the Metaverse. Meta changed its name and even launched its own platform for Metaverse.
The Metaverse is an interoperable virtual universe created in part by users, offering socializing, gaming and even live shows. While it can be accessed with a browser, the experience is better with AR or virtual reality (VR).
