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The difference between Apple and Meta Platforms used to be that the former made things, and the latter didn’t. Even now, Apple remains a company driven by real products, while Facebook parent Meta resides mostly in the ether. But the lines between the two are getting less defined.
Selling devices is still serving Apple well. On Thursday it said it had made $124bn of revenue in the latest quarter, compared with Meta’s $48bn. Sales of iPhones, which contribute more than half, are flat — but iPads and Macs are shifting smartly. Revenue from services, like video streaming, grew 14 per cent — not hard goods, but predictable and profitable nonetheless.
Meta peddles objects, too — it’s just that they don’t yet make money. While Cook’s watches, phones and other gadgets bring a 39 per cent gross margin, Meta has notched up nearly $60bn of losses in four years on Reality Labs, a project making virtual-reality headsets and connected Ray-Bans.
At some point, this will bring them into closer combat. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg mused this week that in a decade, glasses would be the most logical “form factor” through which people accessed the internet. He even suggested that everyone who wore glasses today — more than 3bn people — could be wearing AI-connected eyewear a decade from now.
If this proves true, Apple is in for an upset. Glasses and phones can coexist, as watches and phones do now. But it makes sense that, over time, users would rather have one device than two or three. At the very least, if the point of contact moves from hand to face, then the value of the smartphone, its screen and its design — all Apple’s forte — diminishes.
Of course, smart glasses are nothing new. Zuckerberg has been discussing them for more than a decade. Chipmaker Intel debuted, then shelved, specs that would beam images direct into the wearer’s retina. Still, momentum is building. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a big tech showcase, served up smart shades in spades. Zuckerberg says this year the trajectory of the market will become clear — for better or for worse.
This isn’t necessarily a battle Apple CEO Tim Cook will lose. His company threw off $108bn of cash from operations in 2024. Apple, unlike Meta, tends not to talk about new products until it has something to sell.
But if Zuckerberg’s hunch is right, it’s a challenge worth weighing sooner rather than later. Meta is talking its book — many Wall Street analysts ascribe no value to Reality Labs because future profit seems distant. The reverse is likely to apply too, though: Apple investors may not be pricing in the risk they can’t yet see.
john.foley@ft.com
