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You: “My phone fell into the ocean. I need to buy a new phone.”Your friend: “Ha! if you had an iPhone, you could’ve used Find my iPhone.”
You: “In the ocean!?”
Your friend: “You never know.”
You: “… Anyway, what should I buy? A new Android or an iPhone?”
Your friend: “This is such a stupid question. God gave you a gift — your old phone fell into the ocean. It’s time to step it up.”
You: “Yes, but it’s 50% more expensive than an Android with the same capabilities.”
Your friend: “Dude, you’re investing. Soon you’ll buy an Apple watch, an iMac, an Apple Car, and an Apple Vision Pro.”
You: “I don’t think you understand the word investing.”
Your friend: “Come on? Steve Jobs?”
You: “Are you just throwing names now?”
Your friend: “Whatever, I would’ve found my phone if it fell into the ocean.”
You: “…”
PS — 96% of my time is invested in my newsletter (750k views and 12k readers); Here’s a link if you wish to become part of my network.
You’re one to speak.
Ironically, I actually own an iPhone, an iMac, Airpods, and I plan on buying the Apple Vision Pro (Gosh, I’m becoming an Apple. Stop brainwashing me, Cook!)
There’s a new movement coming.
- There was the internet one, and guess what? Thousands of people objected to it.
- Then there were smartphones accessing the internet. Guess what? Thousands of people hated them.
- Then there is what many call “the metaverse.” Guess what? Millions of people object to it.
The thing about our product usage is that it’s not determined by those who are loud. It’s determined by the wide mass of people over time.
- The church usually has a priest to whom people follow their opinion.
- The consumer world has its own company that has plenty of followers. That’s Apple. They’ve redefined customer retention. When there’s a new product, there are lines of people waiting to buy it.
Being almost an Apple myself (I like how that sounds. It’s catching up.) I understand why these people line up to buy their products. Apple mostly releases high-quality and quite cool products.
But I’m aware of one thing — In terms of market dominance, Android is much more dominant. (Don’t head to the comments with your iPhone, and start hating yet. Give me a few minutes, then do that.)
Ten People In The Room — 7 Have Android.
You: “What? That’s impossible. All my friends and family have an iPhone. What are you saying?”
This is a statistic in regard to the global market. Although I’m not quite confident in the reference of it, I kind of believe it to be close to reality.
Android as an OS is incorporated in plenty of cheap phones. iOS is only in the iPhone, which costs at least $400.
Globally, the average salary would be less than $1000. So it’s quite the investment to buy a $400 phone. An Android, on the other hand, could be extremely cheap.
What Android did in the smartphone industry is following in the footsteps of Microsoft in the computing world.
- Microsoft provided Windows to everyone.
- Apple provided Macs to people who could afford them.
Windows is much more used than MacOS when it comes to operating systems. It’s one of the reasons why Microsoft is the second most valuable company in terms of market cap (The difference between its market cap and Apple’s is just a teeny tiny $400 billion.)
So there are two strategies:
- Go for the rich (Steve Jobs did that.)
- Go for the masses (Bill Gates did that.)
Now let’s talk about the upcoming virtual world and who’s going for what.
Apple Vision Pro — The Richest Of The Richest.
If the average global salary is less than $1,000 (I’m not sure of this either because online sources are not something I trust in such figures. But I’d bet it’s somewhat correct,) then it would take quite a big chunk of an average person’s savings to buy the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro.
You have probably already read plenty of articles in regard to that. So I won’t repeat it. What I did read, though, is that Apple is working on creating a more affordable version of it. I think the more affordable version is going to be the game changer.
This super expensive headset is unlikely to have an effect on the masses and change their behaviors in regard to computing.
- But the original iPhone was quite expensive.
- The original Mac was quite expensive.
It’s just how they do things. Now let’s fast forward ten years into the future.
The Future Of XR (VR, AR, etc.)
A few weeks ago, I read an article about how Zuckerberg’s Metaverse is dead. Then Apple releases the Apple Vision Pro on June 5th. We can’t know what the world is thinking at that point. But we can see what they’re searching for.
So I was curious to see whether interest in the metaverse spiked a bit on that day. It certainly did.
Google Trends Showcasing “Metaverse” as a Search Term on June 5th
I don’t have to show you the Google search behavior of “Apple Vision Pro” on June 5th and 6th. It was quite high. But the first thing that the average person would probably think of is, “$3,500?!”
So then I started thinking, what would be the next thought to search for? My bet would be the affordable alternative to the Apple Vision Pro. There’s one company that is owned by Meta that specializes in that — Oculus.
Google Trends Showcasing “Oculus” as a Search Term on June 6th
But aside from that, the interest in the industry and virtual reality spiked overall.
Google Trends Showcasing “VR” as a Search Term on June 6th
That’s the Apple effect. But if you ask me, they’re not the real winners of the game. The game is a very long one. Meta, if they do everything perfectly, will be the Windows to their Mac. They will be the Android to their iOS.
In other words, Meta’s headsets will be affordable and market-dominant headsets. This does not mean that Meta will be more valuable than Apple.
Apple’s formula of taking money from the rich will probably still keep it in the top spot. They’re even upping their game by taking more money from the rich.
But it does mean that if you envision the future being full of people wearing VR headsets, there’s a fair chance that 7 out of 10 people would be wearing a Meta headset.
Let’s continue this discussion in the comments — do you agree? do you disagree? what’s your take on the XR world?
I’m Al, a business consultant in Zurich, Switzerland. I believe in the power of delivering value to you, the reader. Follow me on various social media platforms if you’re interested in the value of my content.
