Reliable analyst says new delays could take place

Dec 5, 2022 16:47 GMT  ·  By

It’s hard to be disappointed by the delay of a product that doesn’t officially exist, and this is probably the reason Apple is so far remaining tight-lipped on the debut of its highly anticipated AR/VR headset.

While the information on this product is reaching the web every now and then, the Cupertino-based tech giant is trying to keep all details secret.

And according to reliable tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, there’s a good reason for this.

The project seems to be facing new delays, this time caused by software-related issues. These could cause delays to mass shipments, though the shipments of components could still kick off at some point in the first half of 2023.

“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). 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,” Kuo said in a tweet.

At this point, it’s still not clear when Apple could announce the new device, but the 2023 edition of WWDC is probably just the perfect timing for such an unveiling.

Due to these delays, however, the headset could take longer to ship, even if it’s officially announced at WWDC.

“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,” Kuo explained.

Needless to say, we should all just take everything with a pinch of salt given no official information exists at this point.