Shipment of Apple's AR/VR headsets likely delayed from previously estimated Q2 2023 to 2H 2023 due to 'software-related issues'

It is rumored that Apple will release a headset for AR ( augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality). And the news that the release is approaching continues. However, due to software-related issues, the shipment of the headset, which was scheduled for the first half of 2023, has been postponed to the second half of 2023, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is familiar with Apple product information, has revealed.

Report: Apple Headset faces more delays due to software
https://9to5mac.com/2022/12/04/apple-headset-delays-continue-software/

Software issues reportedly delay Apple headset until second half of 2023 - SiliconANGLE
https://siliconangle.com/2022/12/04/software-issues-reportedly-delay-apple-headset-second-half-2023/

It was reported that Apple's AR / VR headset will be released in late 2022 or early 2023.

Report that Apple's AR-VR headset will finally appear at the end of 2022 or 2023-GIGAZINE

However, according to Kuo's research, Apple's AR / VR headset shipment schedule may be delayed until the second quarter of 2023 (April-June) at the earliest due to software-related issues. thing.

(6/8)
My latest survey indicates that the mass shipment schedule of Apple's MR headset may delay to 2H23 because of software-related issues (vs. the previous estimate of 2Q23).

— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) December 4, 2022

The shipment schedule for the parts that make up the AR / VR headset is likely to be in the first half of 2023 or the second quarter of 2023, and the final product shipment schedule will also be postponed, so Mr. Kuo will ship 50 units. We expect it to be less than 10,000 units, which is far below the market consensus of 800,000 to 1.2 million units. Kuo also points out that reducing the number of shipments will have a significant impact on the sales of suppliers that produce lenses and camera modules.

(7/8)
The mass shipment schedule of components is still likely 1H23/2Q23, but due to postponed mass shipment schedule of the end product, Apple MR headset shipment forecast in 2023 will likely be less than 500k units, which is lower than the market consensus of 800k- 1,200k units.

— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) December 4, 2022

Although it was rumored that an AR / VR headset would be announced as a new product in January 2023, the product announcement itself was further postponed because if there was a long time between the announcement and the shipment of the product, it would adversely affect the promotion. It is said that it has been done. It is unknown when the announcement will be made in the future.

(8/8)
It still needs to be determined whether the media event schedule (previously estimated in January 2023) will also delay, but usually, if the time frame between the media event and end product mass shipment is too long, it's detrimental to promotion and sales.

— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) December 4, 2022

Apple-related news site 9To5mac said, ``With companies like Meta already competing in the market for VR devices, it's clear that Apple needs to get off to a strong start with its own AR/VR hardware. , I think Apple should continue to test new AR and VR features on other platforms during the postponement and consider whether they can be commercialized.What users can do with AR / VR technology. It allows developers to test the technology on development kits before the headset is actually released.'