Survey: Execs say Apple’s headset will be ‘iPhone moment’

On the morning of WWDC 2023, Developers already seem very positive concerning Apple’s upcoming VR/AR headset announcement according to a Storyblok survey.

Developers are already interested

Storyblok says it surveyed software and marketing industry leaders who are familiar with rumors about what Apple may have planned. They noted one interesting difference between the two groups, as marketing pros seem more cautious about what to expect.

Among developers, they said that 60% think it will be an iPhone moment for VR/AR with a hefty 80% “very interested or somewhat interested in creating content for the headset.”

58% think VR/AR is the next big digital platform.

Most people spoken with for the survey will pay up to $2,000 for the headset, with 10% willing to pay whatever it costs. Just 7% say they’re not interested in Apple’s headset.

What Storyblok said

“Apple and the entire VR/AR industry have a lot riding on the rumoured headset announcement at WWDC. The data shows businesses believe VR/AR is the future of content, but after so many false starts in recent years, marketers are clearly more sceptical about the potential of the technology right now.

“The good news for Apple is that developers are very enthusiastic about building for the platform, even though they don’t know anything about it. The level of support from developers will ultimately make or break the product. If they build experiences that draw people in and keep them coming back, marketers will naturally follow their lead with the same level of enthusiasm,” said Dominik Angerer, Co-Founder and CEO of Storyblok.

Follow the eyeballs

This may be good news for Apple, but will likely also be good news for Storyblok, which creates an enterprise-level Headless Content Management System which the company, no doubt, intends to tweak to exploit any emerging AR/VR opportunity. And while marketers may be reticent today, they will go where the eyeballs are, and in the case of Apple’s mixed reality this may well force them to enter the fray.

Anticipation is high

The reticence among marketers comes to mind when reading comment from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claimed investors to be more interested in Apple AI than the headset. Might that preference reflect his information sources?

The analysts at Wedbush seem to hone far more closely to the developer audience Apple will inevitably hone to at WWDC. “We believe Apple’s Reality Pro will come with many apps and use cases that will distinguish this new product within the Cupertino hardware arsenal,” the analysts said.

Apple shares are currently flying high on expectation at the show, though Morgan Stanley last week warned the products may not actually ship until December.

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