"It won't be long before people realize that life without AR is as unimaginable as it is now that people can't imagine life without smartphones or without the Internet."
At the end of September 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook shared with the students present when he visited the App Developer Academy in Italy, "It won't take that long." But after that, Cook did not fulfill his promise, and Apple's AR-related products have been "surviving" in rumors.
Perhaps realizing that global consumers have been waiting too long, Cook simply went a step further and prepared to directly launch MR (Mixed Reality) headset products based on AR and VR technologies.
Bloomberg broke the news in February this year that Apple's MR headset may be unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June this year. For Apple, new products such as MR headsets are really needed to regain the confidence of consumers and the industry.
Over the years, Apple has been struggling with new product development: the car-making plan has undergone several twists and turns, and strategic adjustments are frequent; folding screen devices are still only living in the expectations of "fruit fans"; MR headsets have also been delayed many times due to 3D touch technology difficulties and internal differences time to market.
With no new products to attract attention, Apple's performance began to decline. The 2022 Q4 financial report released in early February this year showed that Apple is facing its first quarterly revenue decline since 2019. In the quarter, Apple's total revenue fell by 5% year-on-year, and its net profit fell by 13% year-on-year.
As the performance declined, Cook, as an Apple trader, was naturally under pressure. On February 12, 2023 local time, Apple’s documents submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showed that the Compensation Committee approved Cook’s proposal for a salary cut, and its target annual salary in 2023 was 40% lower than that in 2022. above. At the same time, the company boosted sales through price cuts on the iPhone 14 Pro series.
Perhaps it is the chain reaction of the decline in stock price caused by unfavorable revenue. Apple is facing the challenges brought about by personnel turmoil. Since the second half of last year, 11 vice presidents have chosen to leave. The change of executives involving multiple fields may have an impact on the company's operation and subsequent product development.
New products have been delayed one after another, performance has been under pressure, and executives have left one after another. In the industry's view, Apple may have fallen from its former altar. This time, Cook ignored the objections of the design department and let the MR headset be produced in advance, perhaps in order to change these unfavorable situations.
2023 is destined to be a stressful year for Apple. Whether the mobile phone business can reverse the downward trend and whether MR headsets can launch Apple’s first shot into the AR market will be the key battles for Cook and Apple to deal with future challenges. .
The MR headset was unveiled this year, to solve the dilemma of Apple's new products?
The Apple MR headset, which has been rumored for a long time, may be unveiled this year.
In February of this year, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the launch of Apple's first mixed-reality headset was delayed from April to June, and the product may be launched by global developers this year. Officially unveiled at WWDC.
After the news was disseminated by many media, it once aroused attention and discussion inside and outside the industry. Apple did not respond to this news, until last week, Apple unveiled the product ahead of schedule.
According to Bloomberg News, Apple demonstrated this product in a high-profile internally. The location was chosen in Apple's largest exhibition hall-Steve Jobs Theater, which was witnessed by the Top100 team composed of about 100 Apple executives present. Different from previous product tests, this time the signal of Apple launching new products is stronger.
According to Wired Insight, this new MR headset integrates virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), is equipped with the latest Mac-level M2 chip, and is also equipped with a new operation called realityOS (internally called xrOS). The system, interface and software functions are mostly the same as iPhone and iPad.
In terms of selling price, the price of this new product is as high as 3,000 US dollars, and the shipment volume in the first year is expected to be 1 million units. For comparison, Meta’s first high-end VR head-mounted display Quest Pro released in October last year was priced at $1,500, which is only half of Apple’s MR head-mounted display product.
In addition, people familiar with the product revealed to Bloomberg that Apple's MR headset is equipped with eye and hand tracking functions, and the hardware uses multiple external cameras of the headset and internal sensors of the device shell. In addition to external accessories such as mouse and keyboard, users can also complete some instructions through eye contact and gestures. The device is also equipped with a digital crown for switching between AR and VR.
In the eyes of the outside world, the Apple MR headset equipped with the M2 chip, Apple's ecological environment, and 3D control system will stand out from the crowd of competitors and constitute a differentiated selling point with Apple's innovative attributes.
Apple also has its own expectations when it comes to mixed reality headsets. In their view, if the product is successfully released and iterated, users will be able to type from the air and even experience immersive VR games gradually. Cook may create an epoch-making computing center with his own brand.
Behind the expectation is the dilemma and pressure of Apple's difficulty in producing new products for many years.
The last time Apple launched a new hardware category, the Apple Watch, was in 2015. However, the research and development of MR headsets that began in 2015 and the car-making plan that began in 2014 have been full of twists and turns.
Since the establishment of the car project Titan in 2014, Apple Cars has undergone four coaching changes and has gradually lost its rhythm in the car-making strategy. At the beginning of the project, there were internal disagreements. Steve Zadesky, the first head of the automotive project, planned to build a car with assisted driving functions, while the design department insisted that a fully self-driving car was in line with Apple's tonality.
Two years later, Apple gave up building cars and embraced the development of autonomous driving system software. Beginning in 2018, Apple has returned to building complete vehicle tracks again. The difference is that this time Apple has begun to reduce the difficulty of autonomous driving development, and tends to be more achievable solutions that are more suitable for current market demand. For example, automotive products will include steering wheels and pedals, and automatic assistance The driving ability also only supports highway scenes.
At the same time, in terms of the form of car manufacturing, many media also broke the news that Apple cars are likely to rely on OEMs for production in the future. Since then, Foxconn, Chery and other car companies have been rumored to be the OEMs of Apple cars.
To reduce the difficulty of making cars and adopt the foundry model, the purpose of Apple's doing this is to make Apple cars land as soon as possible. But today in 2023, the Apple car still hasn't landed.
This situation also happens to Apple's folding screen products.
The foldable iPhone, which has been rumored for many years, does not seem to have the chance to be unveiled this year. There are many versions of predictions about the real development process of Apple's folding screen.
Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted at the beginning of this year that Apple plans to launch a foldable iPad as early as 2024, and the new device will use lighter carbon fiber materials. Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young said in a tweet in early February that according to his information, Apple is not developing a foldable iPad, but a 20.5-inch foldable notebook, which will be available as early as 2025.
Since Apple has been in the midst of skipping tickets and tortuous development in terms of new products, from the perspective of the industry, this may be a major reason why Cook ignored the suggestion of the design department to continue to polish the product and let the MR headset land early.
Apple does not hesitate to invest heavily in the AR market whose future is still unclear, because the market is still in its infancy.
Since the rise of the concept of VR, giants have been scrambling to get a share of the action. According to the latest data from IDC, Meta will dominate with a share of nearly 80% in 2022.
For now, however, industry giant Meta's VR division is still struggling. According to CNBC reports, the Reality Labs department of Meta’s VR project will record an operating loss of up to US$13.72 billion in 2022.
As investors turned to ChatGPT, a new outlet, the Metaverse concept "flashed", major manufacturers collectively shrunk their XR product lines, and within a few months there were news of Meta layoffs, Microsoft disbanded the Metaverse team, and Tencent abolished the XR department. Morale in the VR industry downturn.
However, many companies will still produce or announce new products in 2023, and companies in the AR industry are still trying to break through.
Based on this industry background, Apple may believe that its own MR headset can occupy a place in the AR market and become a new growth segment for Apple. There will be such speculation, but also because in Apple's view, unlike the Apple Watch with Jobs' color, this MR headset will be the first innovative product led by Cook.
Just like the original iPhone, the multi-touch screen replaces the physical keyboard, ushering in a new generation of touch-screen phones. The MR head display featuring a 3D touch system is a breakthrough interactive application that may bring a new dimension, and it is also an opportunity to break the stereotype of Cook as a "master tailor".
Although there are already strong players such as Meta in the AR and VR markets, this time Cook doesn’t want to miss the opportunity anymore, because Apple behind him is already in trouble.
The decline in performance and the resignation of executives, Apple has entered the darkest moment
Slowing growth and declining performance, Apple delivered a poor result in the fourth quarter of 2022.
According to data, Apple’s Q4 total revenue last year was US$117.154 billion, down 5% year-on-year; net profit was US$29.998 billion, down 13% year-on-year. This is the first year-over-year decline in Apple's quarterly revenue since 2019.
Screenshot source Apple financial report Behind the unsatisfactory performance is the decline in sales of Apple's flagship product, the iPhone series. Among them, the iPhone, which accounts for as much as 56% of revenue, has sales of US$65.775 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 8%.
In the conference call, Cook attributed the failure of iPhone sales this time to the short-term shutdown of the supply chain under the influence of the epidemic. During the critical period when the company promoted the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, the shipment of this series of products was only about 78 million units, and the lack of about 6 million units caused the delivery time to far exceed expectations. The most intuitive manifestation is the drop in 2022. sales in the last quarter.
Reflected on the supply chain side, Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, which undertook the manufacturing burden at that time, was interrupting production due to the epidemic. However, Cook also announced that the supply chain is improving.
In order to change the predicament, the action has begun after the financial report is released. The full version of the iPhone 14 Pro series will start to cut prices in the domestic market from February 5, and almost all authorized stores will offer a limited-time discount of 700 yuan. Preempting the price reduction time of the general iPhone is also seen as Apple's desire to boost sales in the short term in 2023. Previously, the iPhone 11 series and XR series had used price discounts in exchange for sales growth.
However, behind Apple's price reduction is the phenomenon of weak demand in the entire mobile phone market.
According to Counterpoint data, global smartphone shipments will drop to the lowest level in nine years in 2022, or 1.2 billion units. Global smartphone revenue was $409 billion, the lowest level since 2017.
Based on this industry background, it seems to the industry that it is not easy for Apple to use price cuts to boost iPhone sales and drive the company's overall revenue.
As far as Apple is concerned, the current difficulties encountered are not limited to these.
Earlier this month, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, Michael Abbott, Apple's vice president of cloud computing, will leave in April, and his functions will be taken over by Jeff Robbin, a long-time Apple engineer. In 2018, Abbott joined Apple and was mainly responsible for the iCloud business and the platform that supports services such as iMessage and FaceTime.
This is the 11th vice president that Apple has successively lost since the second half of 2002. Prior to this, frequent executive turnover also appeared in Apple's car business.
First of all, you need to understand that according to the analysis of "How Apple is Organized for Innovation" published by Apple University President and Vice President Joel Podolny, Apple has adopted a functional organizational structure since the return of Jobs, and it is still in use today. The basic principle of functional organization is to coordinate professional knowledge and decision-making power, and decision-makers need to be responsible for functions, not a single product.
According to Apple's functional organizational structure, in order to better coordinate the company's cost and user experience value, decision-making power will be assigned to leaders who have been working in their respective fields for many years and have the most profound professional knowledge and experience. For example, the polishing of a product requires the collaboration of multiple functional teams, and decisions involving different fields will be made by the person most qualified to make decisions in that field.
Senior leaders, especially senior vice presidents, have participated in decision-making and judgment over the years, which has a profound impact on the operation of Apple.
The 11 vice presidents who have resigned now cover industrial design, online stores, information systems, Apple cloud computing, procurement and subscription services and other fields. Such a large-scale change can feel like an earthquake, which brings a lot of challenges to Apple.
Apple has different ways of handling job vacancies internally, some choose successors or divide functions internally, and some hire new executives from outside. The loss of key talents in the department will still affect the company's operation and product development progress.
The rare wave of resignations may be related to stock prices. For vice presidents, stock income can account for the vast majority of their total compensation. Apple's stock price will fall by about 28% in 2022, and the gap caused may be one reason for their resignation.
Taking into account practical factors, many of Apple's executives joined the company before 2000 and may retire in the next few years. Cook wants to launch new products during his tenure and create Apple products that truly bear Cook's brand, and he needs to speed up.
Just as Apple is currently in such a dark moment, it has also aroused concerns about the company inside and outside the industry. Therefore, whether Cook can lead Apple out of the predicament has become a question that many people think about.
After Cook is under pressure, can he still lead Apple out of the predicament?
Cook's recent days have not been easy.
With Apple's declining sales and declining performance, Cook was the first to be under pressure. In this regard, he offered to voluntarily lower his salary. At Apple's annual general meeting held on March 10, local time, shareholders approved Cook and a group of executives out of consideration for "balancing shareholder feedback, Apple's performance, and Cook's proposal to adjust salary based on feedback". salary reduction plan.
Cook's salary changes in 2023, source Apple's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Cook's 2023 salary is set to be divided into three parts, including a base salary of $3 million 与此原文有关的更多信息要查看其他翻译信息，您必须输入相应原文 发送反馈 侧边栏 历史记录 已保存 提供建议