Apple shares surge after CEO reveals he will invest in Metaverse

Tim Cook said on a call with investors that there is a lot of potential for Metaverse applications, and his company is investing in AR development on its devices.

Apple shares rose sharply in after-hours trading after CEO Tim Cook said on the company's first-quarter 2022 earnings call that he sees considerable potential in the metaverse space .

When asked about Apple's opportunities in the Metaverse on a Jan. 27 conference call, Cook replied: "We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing accordingly."

"We've been exploring emerging technologies, and I've talked at length about how interesting it is for us now."

The Metaverse is an interoperable virtual world, created in part by users, that offers social, gaming and even live concerts. While it can be accessed through a browser, the experience is better with virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR).

APPL fell about 3% to $159.22 in regular trading, but has since risen 8% to $167.23 in after-hours trading. The Metaverse was just one of the topics discussed during this call.

During a Jan. 27 conference call, Cook noted that there are already 14,000 apps on Apple's App Store that were designed using AR development platform ARKit, according to Appleinsider. Apps designed with ARKit help users enter the metaverse.

While Meta tends to use Oculus headsets to immerse users in the Metaverse, Apple is currently betting on AR technology. Apple's headset was supposed to be released in 2022, but according to a Jan. 14 report by Bloomberg, the product could be delayed due to hardware and software challenges.

While Cook has embraced the metaverse, the headset in development will focus on gaming, communications and content consumption. So far, the world's largest company by market capitalization lags other technology leaders like Meta and Microsoft, both of which are advancing public plans for development in the Metaverse.

Microsoft recently bought Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in an attempt to expand the metaverse game.