Meta Platforms Is Making a Push Into AI Hardware. History Says Apple Investors Shouldn't Worry.
Key Points
At its recent Meta Connect 2026 event, Meta Platforms announced a range of new glasses, as well as the Muse Charm.
The company's goal is to enable frictionless usage of its popular Muse AI agent.
Although it has been almost 20 years since it debuted, Apple's iPhone continues to dominate the consumer tech space, meaning it will likely be a top way that consumers interact with AI for the foreseeable future.
Unlike its hyperscaler peers, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) doesn't operate its own legacy cloud computing platform. It's still investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI), though, with capital expenditures forecast to be between $130 billion and $145 billion in 2026. The business certainly wants to lead the consumer AI market.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led enterprise is making a huge push into AI hardware, as its Meta Connect 2026 event revealed. The market has become more bullish about it, too, with the "Magnificent Seven" stock soaring by 25% in the past month (as of Sept. 28).
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Logical investors might wonder what Meta's recent product launches mean for consumer tech leader Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). Do Meta's moves pose a threat to the iPhone maker?
History suggests that Apple shareholders have nothing to worry about.
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Zuck wants to take a bite out of Apple's dominance
At the Meta Connect 2026 event, which took place on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24, Meta Platforms introduced new hardware devices, like lightweight virtual reality (VR) glasses, a new iteration of its Ray-Ban smart glasses, and audio-only smart glasses. Additionally, it announced the Muse Charm, a small, handheld, always-on AI agent device.
The goal is to enable seamless usage of its Muse AI agent, which it released on Sept. 8. During their respective first 12 days of public availability, Muse AI downloads for iOS exceeded ChatGPT downloads in the U.S. and Canada.
This isn't Meta's first notable attempt to penetrate the hardware space, as Zuckerberg has tried to create and own an entirely new computing platform to lessen its dependence on Apple and Alphabet, which own the two top smartphone operating systems. Years ago, Meta was convinced that VR and augmented reality (AR) would be the future, and it made those technologies central to its broader metaverse push. By any measure, that pivot toward the metaverse was a massive financial and strategic failure.
Overthrowing the iPhone would be a daunting task
The jury is still out on how successful Meta will be with its newly revealed hardware devices, which will be available for sale in the coming months. One thing is for certain, however: Consumer behavior, once established, is usually slow and difficult to change. This truth plays to Apple's advantage. Former CEO Tim Cook said in January that the business had more than 2.5 billion active devices in the world, and iPhones are estimated to account for more than half of them.
It's not crazy to say that the odds are stacked against Meta. To be fair, though, its "family of apps" and their 3.6 billion combined daily active users give it a strong position in the digital advertising market. Meta can monetize its AI strategy primarily via ads.
But the iPhone might remain the leading device through which people interact with AI, at least for the foreseeable future. It will be a daunting task to topple the product line from its perch. It's celebrating its 20th birthday next year, and though it's theoretically in a mature state of its lifecycle, iPhone sales were up more than 20% year over year through the first nine months of fiscal 2026.
History says that Apple investors shouldn't worry.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.