"Spatial computer"

Apple Vision Pro launches with iPhone tailwind

Apple made a profit of almost 34 billion dollars in Christmas sales thanks to the unbroken demand for its iPhone. The company now has more than 2.2 billion devices in use. With this record figure behind it, the company is entering a new product category for the first time in almost a decade on Friday - with the Apple Vision Pro computer glasses.

With the device, which is sold from 3499 dollars (around 3200 euros) before tax, Apple wants to establish a "spatial computer" with which users can display digital content within their real environment.

The Vision Pro records the environment with cameras and reproduces it together with additional content on displays in front of the eyes. Apple is advertising the possibility of using the glasses to distribute virtual displays around the room for working, to watch films as if they were on a large screen or to refresh memories using 3D videos recorded with an iPhone.

"Revolutionary device"
 Apple CEO Tim Cook called the glasses a "revolutionary device" and declared Friday a historic day. The Vision Pro will primarily compete on the market against the Quest glasses from Facebook company Meta. Meta originally specialized in virtual reality (VR), where users are completely immersed in digital worlds. However, the current Quest 3 model in particular can also display the real environment. The Quest 3 is sold by Meta for 500 dollars. The company is investing billions in the business, but it has so far remained a niche market.

The iPhone was once again the driving force behind Apple's business in the Christmas quarter, with an increase in turnover of around six percent to 69.7 billion dollars, as the company announced after the US stock exchange closed on Thursday. According to market researchers' calculations, Apple became the world's largest smartphone provider for the first time last year, replacing the long-time leader Samsung. In Western Europe, among others, iPhone sales reached a record level in the past quarter, as CFO Luca Maestri said.

Cautious forecast
However, Apple was very cautious in its forecast for the current quarter. Maestri pointed out that in the same quarter of the previous year, pent-up demand due to a pause in production of the iPhone 14 Pro had resulted in additional revenue of five billion dollars. If this is factored out, turnover will remain roughly the same. Following this forecast, Apple shares slipped deeper into the red and closed after-hours trading with a discount of just under three percent.

Sales in the past quarter rose by two percent year-on-year to 119.6 billion dollars (110 billion euros). It was the first increase in turnover after four quarters of declines. Apple thus also digested a decline in revenue of around 13 percent in the China segment, which includes the Group's business in Taiwan and Hong Kong. On balance, Apple increased its profit by 13 percent to 33.9 billion dollars.

While iPhone sales exceeded analysts' forecasts, Apple fell short of market expectations in the services business, Mac computers and the iPad.