We all expect new iPhones, iPads, Macs, the Vision Pro, and many other Apple hardware introductions with improvements and tweaks across the range, but what are the Apple trends and strategies we’ll discuss in 2024?
Business with a bullet
“It’s a computer. It’s a communication device. It’s an immersive entertainment experience.” No, it’s not three separate things; it is Apple’s Vision Pro, which I expect will be made available for sale in early March (though perhaps announced a week or two earlier). First adopters will include the most affluent Apple customers, developers, and enterprise IT leaders wanting to explore what the mixed-reality headset can do.
Of course, at $3,500 a pop, you can’t expect widescale deployment for business users, but if history has any kind of arc, you’ll see them appear in strategically important roles first before building out elsewhere. Enterprise software developers will I think explore these devices to see what and where they can make a difference. And there will be queues of interested customers outside Apple retail stores eager to sign up for an expert-led session using Vision Pro.
I imagine that Apple will try to tempt customers attending those Vision Pro sessions into taking a second customer journey toward new AirPods or even potentially an iPhone SE while they are there. And by the end of the year as the first-generation goggles perhaps debut in new markets, Apple will have new iPhones, Macs, iPads, and a range of souped up accessories to tempt them while they’re there — even as the Apple Rumor Engine(™) sparks up speculation concerning Vision Pro 2.
Accelerating supply chain
Those new iPads and that so-called “simplified” range of new Apple tablets? At time of writing, there’s a growing chance at least some of these will be manufactured in Vietnam. Apple and iPad partner BYD are working together not just to put iPad production in that country, but also to put product development resources there. We can’t be clear on the timeline, but as the company accelerates regional diversification of manufacturing across its products, it is reasonable to anticipate significant quantities of its hardware next year will come from Vietnam, Thailand, and — of course, given the rapid pace at which iPhone partners are investing there — India.
By this time next year, Apple’s work to build a more resilient, less China-based manufacturing network will be years into its first five-year plan. In Apple-world that’s enough time to put infrastructure for regional expansion into place, which means this activity will accelerate from here.
Open house
On its current trajectory, Apple will be forced to open up at least some of the orchards in its walled gardens to others starting in March 2024. It will have to in order to obey new EU guidelines, and while I suspect it will fight a rearguard action to protect its business in its biggest App Store market (the US), change…
2023-12-22 03:00:05
Article from www.computerworld.com rnrn
