Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has long had big ambitions in augmented reality (AR), and it’s made a lot of progress in reaching those objectives. But now, there’s some new and downright distressing competition afoot in the form of a new Chinese player that’s poised to land major new investments and achieve a huge valuation. Apple, meanwhile, is down slightly in Monday afternoon’s trading on the news.
The new competitor, known as Xreal, is looking to raise $60 million. Should it prove successful, that would push its valuation clear up to the billion-dollar mark and then some. With the new $60 million, Xreal will have raised a total surpassing the $300 million mark. Xreal’s primary competitive edge here seems to be that it’s specializing in augmented reality instead of trying to combine it with its immediate counterpart, virtual reality (VR). In fact, Xreal has already made significant strides in this area, holding about 4% of the AR market by itself. And Xreal has no plans to try to get into the VR market at all.
Is Apple a Good Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AAPL stock based on 22 Buys, eight Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 34.58% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AAPL price target of $205.85 per share implies 7.56% upside potential.
