Apple's AR efforts: Not the rolling thunder Gene Munster expected

More like a “light drizzle,” he says.

From a note to Loup Ventures subscribers posted Tuesday:

Apple has appointed longtime marketing leader Frank Casanova to Senior Director, Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple Augmented Reality, according to Casanova’s LinkedIn profile. Here’s our quick take:

• Apple remains committed to AR but is likely not satisfied with its AR marketing efforts to date. While it’s been disappointing, we remain bullish on AR and bullish on Apple using its vast resources to will the theme into reality.
• We initially expected Apple’s AR marketing efforts to be a “rolling thunder,” building excitement for new applications of augmented reality on iPhone and iPad. In reality, Apple’s AR marketing efforts over the last year and a half since iOS 11 shipped have been more of a light drizzle…
• Showcasing an AR game at WWDC once a year doesn’t cut it.
• There are some compelling use cases for AR today (see Animoji, Streem, and LEGO) and on the horizon (see Lyft and Google Maps).

My take: Munster launched Loup Ventures in part because of what he saw as the commercial promise of augmented and virtual reality. “Light drizzle” is pretty damning.