(Yicai) Oct. 17 -- Apple’s Chief Executive Tim Cook visited China’s Chengdu and expressed great anticipation for applications created by Chinese augmented reality developers for the firm’s first mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro.

“We already have a group of developers in Shanghai working on the Vision Pro, seeing some apps that are sure to be very popular, and we are very excited about this,” Cook told China Daily yesterday. “Chinese developers have the potential to replicate their global success in the AR era, just as they have achieved on Apple’s iOS App Store platform,” he noted.

The US tech giant unveiled the Vision Pro, priced at USD3,499, on June 5 during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, its annual information technology event. However, Apple is developing a cheaper version priced between USD1,500 and USD2,500, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 15.

The release of the Vision Pro marks the beginning of the extended reality era, Zhang Hang, senior vice president of Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi, told Yicai. The device brings XR into various scenarios, and thanks to Apple’s robust app ecosystem, it is anticipated that there will be many XR development tools available on the Vision Pro next year, Zhang added.

According to experts, Cook’s words indicate that Chinese developers not only play a crucial role in Apple’s existing iOS ecosystem but will also have a significant impact on Apple’s future AR ecosystem. The production of the Vision Pro is also closely tied to China, they noted.

Luxshare Precision Industry is preparing to manufacture the Vision Pro, which will be released early next year, Wang Laichun, chairman of the Dongguan-based smartphone assembly giant, said previously.

Editor: Martin Kadiev