For tech giants, smaller companies are commonplace. And Apple is no exception. Additionally, during an annual meeting with shareholders, Cupertino’s president, Tim Cook, raised the issue.
As the BBC reports, over the past six years, Apple has bought nearly 100 companies, which equates, on average, to one purchase every three to four weeks. Cupertino has made some significant acquisitions, like buying Beats Electronics for $ 3 billion, or buying Shazam for $ 400 million.
But most of the time, Apple is instead acquiring smaller companies, in order to benefit from the knowledge and technology of these organizations. Moreover, Apple’s regular acquisitions allow us to get an idea of the company’s new ventures, which are generally very secretive about its future products.
Apple has made several acquisitions in the field of artificial intelligence. For example, four months ago we discussed Apple’s acquisition of Vilynx, a Barcelona-based company that developed software used for search engines and video recommendations.
Other than that, some of the company’s acquisitions also indicate its interest in virtual and augmented reality. In 2020, for example, Apple bought NextVR, a company that broadcasts events on virtual reality headsets.
In general, when the media conjures up these Apple acquisitions, this formula makes a classic one: “Apple buys small tech companies every now and then, and we don’t usually discuss our purpose or plans.”
Soon, Apple must invest heavily in virtual and augmented reality
In any case, Tim Cook evokes Apple’s regular acquisitions at a time when the company should invest more in virtual and augmented reality. It has been a long time since we learned that Apple was interested in these areas (especially augmented reality). And soon it will pay off.
In fact, at the beginning of 2020, the company announced that Dan Ricio, a member of its management team, would take on a new position: leading a new Apple project. While the company does not provide details on this mysterious project, Dan Ricio’s statement indicates that it is an important innovation for the company’s ecosystem.
“After 23 years leading product design or hardware engineering teams – and culminating in our biggest and most ambitious product year – now is the time for a change. Moving forward, I can’t wait to do what I love most: focus all of my time and energy at Apple on creating something new. And cool, I couldn’t get more excited by him. “Dan Richio said.
Later, other information circulated on the web, indicating that the mysterious project led by Dan Ricio will develop Apple products for augmented reality and virtual reality. In an article, Bloomberg also indicated that this team will consist of a thousand engineers.
In addition, informal information is already circulating about future products that this team could develop. For example, according to The Information, Apple could launch an AR / VR product (which combines virtual and augmented reality), with a design similar to that of Facebook’s Oculus headphones.
New: I’ve seen Apple’s in-house renders of its mixed reality headset. It’s a stylish, curved mask with interchangeable headbands and over a dozen cameras. Artist mockup for performances: https://t.co/KMuncsbr7b pic.twitter.com/0FF5G87bwi
Alex Heath (@lexeheath) February 4, 2021
This product could be quite expensive (about 2,500 euros), and it contains dozens of cameras, a LiDAR scanner, two 8K screens, an eye tracking feature, and an Apple Silicon processor that will be more efficient than the M1 chip for the Mac. Last quarter of 2020.
But of course, at the moment, this information is not yet official. Hence, care must always be taken.
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