On the first trading day of the new year, Apple became the first company in U.S. stock market history to hit the $3 trillion mark.
Apple retreated slightly after reaching an all-time high of $182.88 during the session. As of the close, it closed up 2.50% at $182.01 per share, corresponding to a market value of $2.99 trillion.
Apple’s next phase of ascent is in the Metaverse
As Apple becomes the first U.S. company in history to be worth $3 trillion. Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster recently said that Apple’s next step up logic lies in the Metaverse. Apple is expected to capitalize on the metaverse with AR capabilities on phones and the launch of AR/VR glasses. He expects Apple to release a product preview in 2022 and a commercial release in 2023. Therefore, it is expected that Apple may rise to $250 in the future, which is equivalent to a market value of 3.8 trillion. Separately, he said, Apple’s aggressive entry into the Metaverse will lead to a further expansion of the P/E ratio as investors factor in its growing addressable market size.
Although Apple’s current CEO, Cook, said in an interview with reporters that the Metaverse would stay away from buzzwords, this does not affect Apple’s crazy investment in the AR field.
In the past ten years, Apple has successively acquired ten AR/VR companies, involving sensors, AR software, AR content ecology and even AR lenses, including Swedish facial recognition technology company Polar Rose, Israeli real-time 3D motion capture company PrimeSense , German augmented reality technology company Metaio, Swiss facial recognition technology company Faceshift, NextVR, VR startup Spaces, etc.
Apple deploys AR/VR industry
In fact, Apple has also laid out the AR/VR industry in a low-key manner. At the same time, many related patents have been applied for. At present, Apple has disclosed more than 100 patents and functions. In 2021 alone, Apple has won 11 AR-related patents in a row. According to a Bloomberg report, insiders revealed that Apple is stepping up the development of AR/VR devices, which will be available as early as 2022 or 2023.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple is currently working on two devices. One is a VR device internally code-named N301, capable of watching movies, games, and socializing, and will be available as early as 2022. The other is the AR glasses with the internal code name N421, which is still in the research stage of the underlying technology and will be released in 2023.
In November this year, Morgan Stanley released a research report saying that although Meta may be exploring the next major field (metaverse) earlier than many companies, it is Apple that truly holds the key to success. Facebook and Google are investing in VR and AR technology, the gateway to virtual worlds in the “metaverse,” but mass market adoption of AR or VR will only be possible when Apple joins the race.
Apple raises engineer salaries
On the talent front, Apple is offering stock bonuses to some engineers to prevent them from switching to companies like Meta (formerly Facebook). Recently, Apple notified some engineers responsible for silicon design, hardware, software and operations that they will receive stock incentives of $50,000 to $180,000. Most engineers reportedly received $80,000-$120,000 worth of stock, with bonuses in the form of restricted stock. As long as the employees who get the incentive don’t change jobs to other companies, the shares can be realized within 4 years.
In addition, in 2021, which just passed, Cook said that Apple is working on cryptocurrency technology, but this is “not something that is immediately planned to be done.” Apple does not currently have any cryptocurrency products or services. The company does allow cryptocurrency wallet apps on its iPhone app store, but bans mining apps.
With a rich content ecology, strong technical library support, excellent R&D team and technical talents, Apple’s entry into the “metaverse” has occupied many first-mover advantages. Looking forward to the day when Apple “officially” enters the metaverse and crypto world.