Immediately afterwards Pro Vision launch, a news report said on Sunday The Apple company. AAPL is contemplating some innovative products that could add further strength to the company’s sticky ecosystem.
What happened: Separate Apple teams have begun brainstorming about a smart ring and smart glasses, the Bloomberg columnist said Marco Gumann in the latest episode of his weekly Power On newsletter.
Apple’s industrial design team made a presentation on the concept of the smart ring, which can be worn on the fingers, a few years ago, and the ring will likely adopt the Apple Watch’s health-tracking features, Gurman said. She also noted that engineers at Apple’s lab in California recently discussed the possibility of developing smart glasses.
These smart glasses will be along the lines of similar products from Meta platforms AND Amazon, Gurmann said. They will provide audio, eliminating the need for AirPods, and use artificial intelligence and cameras to identify objects around the user, he said.
“The device could also serve as a stepping stone to Apple’s long-standing dream: true augmented reality glasses that you can wear all day,” the columnist said.
The smart ring, Gurman said, is currently a simple idea, although those on the Apple campus are promoting the concept. The glasses are in an “exploratory phase” within the company’s hardware engineering division, he said. The columnist added that the company is also exploring other ideas, such as equipping the AirPods with cameras, along with “more advanced health sensors and artificial intelligence.”
“This would offer consumers many of the benefits of smart glasses without the need for lenses and frames,” he added.
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Because it is important: The smart ring and smart glasses, Gurman said, will likely strengthen the company’s already robust wearables business. This division currently accounts for 10% of Apple’s revenue, more than doubling its share from a decade ago, he noted.
Drilling down on the importance of the wearables business, Gurman said it will help the company acquire new customers, drive growth and “keep people even more connected to the Apple ecosystem.”
A smart ring could appeal to users who focus on health and fitness and don’t want the other features of an Apple Watch, such as apps and phone calls, the columnist said. The smart ring could be a low-cost way to collect key health data without the need to wear a full watch, she further added. If the company sells the Ring as an iPhone accessory, an Apple customer is less likely to shift their loyalty to an Android phone, she added.
As for glasses, Apple may settle for a less ambitious but functional product, similar to Amazon’s Echo Frames and Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses, Gurman said. But those that meet Apple’s standards for visual quality, performance, battery life and size may still be several years away, she said.
Low-cost wearable options, whether a ring, glasses or supercharged AirPods, could help Apple “change things” without stealing sales from existing products, the columnist said. Even though the company reported a four-quarter streak of year-over-year revenue declines in the December quarter, sales growth has yet to take off in a big way.
According to Benzinga Pro data, Apple closed Friday’s session down 1% at $182.52.
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