Apple's $3,499 Vision Pro Set To Launch As Warner Bro.'s Begins Developing Dystopian 'Ready Player One' Metaverse

Tech giant Apple Inc. has entered the virtual reality (VR) competition with the recent announcement of its new product Vision Pro. Set to be available for preorders in February, the unveiling of this cutting-edge device marks a significant milestone for Apple. 

Apple experienced a remarkable 45% stock price rise last year, but shares are about flat to start 2024, fortunate to even bounce back after two prominent analyst downgrades. Coming off a 2.8% year-over-year decline in revenue in 2023, Apple will need to sell and execute its future.

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Management is betting big on VR to get it there. Apple CEO Tim Cook has long been known as an operational genius, not a product genius, which makes this technological innovation potentially legacy-defining. 

With this new hot product, the spotlight is now on Apple, and the question looms whether Vision Pro can give a boost to its sales to justify its roughly 30 price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio.

The Vision Pro, priced at $3,499, is positioning itself as a high-end competitor in the market. This places it at seven times the cost of Meta Platforms Inc.’s Quest 3, a virtual-reality headset priced at $500. 

The significant price difference raises questions about the features and capabilities that justify Vision Pro’s premium positioning compared to Meta’s offering. Price was called out by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg, who reportedly said Apple's vision is "not the one [he] wants."

Meta Platforms Inc. META, a key and established player in the VR space, introduced its first virtual-reality headset, the Oculus Quest, in 2019. Its latest release, the Quest 3, hit the market in October, further intensifying competition in the VR sector. 

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META saw significant success in 2023, with a remarkable 128% increase in share price. It continues to hold strong in the early days of 2024. 

But several industry giants have competing views on what the metaverse is and should be. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., which owns the rights to the popular book and movie "Ready Player One," recently announced a new VR venture. Ready Player One is set in a dystopian future where humanity has largely lost hope in the real world. As such, people have retreated to the OASIS, a metaverse so integral the virtual currency is more valuable than the real deal. 

Despite the book outlining a bleak and dystopian future, Warner Bros. has begun development of a Ready Player One-based metaverse. Oddly, this venture is at the approval and direction of the author of the "Ready Player One" series Ernest Cline. 

The move comes as companies continue to integrate virtual and augmented reality features into their existing business plans. Amazon.com Inc. recently launched augmented reality shopping, The Walt Disney Co. launched a virtual reality division, and Meta continues to pioneer within the space. 

Metaverse startups saw roughly $500 million raised from venture capital in 2023. While this is a far cry from larger funding areas like AI, it still represents a shift in investments. As larger players continue to make investments and build products in the space, it will likely play a larger role in everyday life. Someday, people might even be able to experience Ready Player One virtual reality and actual reality. 

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