🥽 💻 Apple Finally Launches the Vision Pro
Happy Sunday all,
Last week the Apple Vision Pro (or AVP, as I’m calling it) launched and we’ve already seen some dystopian scenes on social media. My personal favorite video was that by Casey Neistat, who takes the AVP around the streets of New York city, the subway, and Times Square. Not only does he gets reactions, but demonstrates how this type of technology could change and shape what the future might look like… if it gets lighter and more compact.
I made an appointment to try it out at the Apple Store tomorrow, so I’ll report back on how that goes. I still think the price is a little too steep for my liking for a Gen 1 product.
If you got your hands on one so far, let me know what your experience has been. Until then, enjoy this Sunday’s Hump Days.
— Humphrey, Tim, & Rickie
P.S. 👾 Join our free Discord, community of 1,000+ strong: https://discord.gg/humphrey
Market Report
Apple Launches the Vision Pro on February 2nd
Apple launched its Vision Pro headset, a $3,499 product that represents the company's first major new product category since 2015.
Despite the overall headset market experiencing an 8% decline to about 8 million units last year, Apple managed to sell an estimated 180,000 Vision Pros during the preorder period, translating to over $600 million in revenue.
This is a significant figure, especially when compared to Meta's mixed-reality division, which generated $210 million in revenue during the third quarter of the previous year.
The introduction of the Vision Pro is crucial but still small for Apple as it explores new markets beyond the maturing smartphone industry, where sales have declined for four consecutive quarters, marking the longest stretch of declines since 2001.
U.S. Economy Adds More Jobs in January than Expected
The U.S. labor market showed robust growth in January with nonfarm payrolls expanding by 353,000, surpassing Dow Jones estimates and maintaining an unemployment rate of 3.7%.
This surge in job creation was accompanied by a significant 4.5% year-over-year increase in average hourly earnings, indicating strong wage growth despite a reduction in average hours worked.
Job growth was broad-based, with significant contributions from sectors like professional and business services, healthcare, and retail trade.
US Workers’ Confidence in Their Employers’ Outlook Hits New Low
U.S. worker confidence in their employers hit a new low, with only 45.6% expressing a positive six-month outlook in January, the lowest since Glassdoor began tracking in 2016, amid increasing layoffs, reduced job postings, and slowed wage growth.
Factors such as the push for return-to-office policies and the lowest quits rate in over three years have further decreased employee sentiment.
U.S. Grew Faster than Any Other Advanced Economy in 2023
The U.S. economy outpaced all other large advanced economies in 2023, with a projected growth of 2.5%, and is expected to continue leading in 2024 with a forecasted growth of 2.1%, according to the IMF.
This resilience contrasts with challenges faced by other major economies, such as Japan's demographic issues, the UK's Brexit-induced supply disruptions, and Europe's energy dependencies exacerbated by geopolitical tensions.