Meta and Apple are in collision course. As Apple ramps up their ads in iOS, Apple comes closer to Meta in their business model, and starts competing for ad dollars. Apple is strangling Meta with their privacy decisions as well as taking a percentage cut for promoted content.
Meta has decided to invest in the next future platform and has been investing in it since 2014. In the latest earnings call, Mark emphasized that they will keep investing heavily into the platform.
Apple is also supposedly investing in VR/AR and is about to launch their VR product. They have an advantage here. They have experience building OSes from the ground up, and also have the capability to build an optimized processor. They also already have the developer ecosystem.
For Apple this is not an existential crisis. It could mean growing their revenue by 2x, as they already sold 1 billion iPhones.
On the other hand, owning the next computing platform is essential for Meta. They are being strangled by Apple and are seeing competition from TikTok and now Twitter (who is now owned by Elon). Meta needs to win.
I wouldn’t bet against Mark. He already demonstrated that he will go to a battle to win. Facebook won against Google+ in the past. Now, instead of backing down from VR/AR during the recession, he is going full steam ahead.
Whatever happens in the next 5/10 years, with more competition in AR/VR, consumers will win. I will just enjoy the show! 🍿