Apple is planning to expand its metaverse efforts according to CEO Time Cook.
Cook recently discussed that the company is seeking to grow its augmented reality apps. Currently, the Apple App Store features 14,000 AR apps and wants to continue expanding these capabilities with further investment.
“We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing accordingly,” said Cook, responding to a question about its metaverse plans.
Reports have also emerged that Apple is looking to introduce its own AR headset by either this or next year, indicating a huge step in its contributions to the metaverse.
Apple has successfully grown its subscription-based services for both music and movie/TV streaming, and incorporating an AR device could help increase its subscriptions that much more.
After announcing these ambitions, Apple’s stock rose 5% in after-hours trades. Its services revenue also grew by 24% during the holiday quarter.
Tech giants have seemingly made it their new-year goal to accelerate their Web 3.0 efforts, with the likes of Microsoft and Meta (formerly Facebook) announcing their own strategies that will play a role in creating a foundation for what the metaverse may look like in the coming years.