After speaking with industry contacts within the virtual and augmented reality spaces, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes Apple (AAPL) has a team exploring the augmented reality space. Augmented reality is known as live view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input whereas virtual reality replicates an environment that simulates the physical presence of real world places and lets the user interact in that world. Apple has made acquisitions of augmented reality companies and hired away the lead Hololens Audio Engineer at Microsoft (MSFT), Munster tells investors in a research note. The iPhone maker's early involvement in the space suggests the company is preparing for the next evolution of computing, Munster writes. The analyst believes that while augmented reality is likely 10 years away from broader consumer adoption, it has the potential to be "as profound a technology platform as the smartphone today." Further, he thinks Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG) are investing "more than you probably think" in virtual and augmented reality. Munster keeps an Overweight rating on Apple with a $172 price target. The stock closed Friday up 37c to $113.29.

Microsoft's (MSFT) Rare said that its 2018 video game "Sea of Thieves," has achieved 40M players across Xbox, Windows 10 and Steam so far. The Fly notes that the game is set to release on PlayStation 5 (SONY) on April 30. Reference Link

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Maxim initiated coverage of Apple with a Hold rating and $178 price target.

Apple will consider making some of its products in Indonesia as the company plans to ramp up investment in Vietnam, Kimberley Kao and Ben Otto of The Wall Street Journal reports. "We talked about the president's desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it's something that we will look at," CEO Tim Cook said at a press conference, according to state news agency Antara. Cook did not offer a timeline for the investment or say what form it could take. Reference Link

The U.K. plans to hold talks this month with Apple (AAPL), Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOGL) and others to push a voluntary charter granting parents more control of social media use by young teens, Bloomberg's Ellen Milligan reports. According to people familiar with the matter, ministers want to launch a consultation later this month to gauge ways of limiting the potential harm to children caused by social media, and the proposed voluntary charter may involve tech firms agreeing to alert parents when their children are repeatedly looking up disturbing content. Reference Link

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