San Francisco, Dec 5 (IANS): Apple's in-development mixed-reality headset could see its launch extended from early 2023 to later in the year due to software issues.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted that the company's AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) headsets may delay until the second half of 2023, reports AppleInsider.

He tweeted: "My latest survey indicates that the mass shipment schedule of Apple's MR headset may delay to 2H23 because of software-related issues (vs. the previous estimate of 2Q23)."

However, Kuo did not mention what these issues could be, but they may relate to its operating system, known as realityOS or xrOS, according to the report.

The delay appears to affect only the mass shipment of finished goods, rather than manufacturing itself.

According to Kuo, component shipments will still take place in the first half of 2023, possibly in the second quarter.

"The delay in mass shipment of this product may hurt the optical industry's near-term market sentiment. Major suppliers of Apple MR headset optical suppliers include Largan (lens), Genius (Pancake), Cowell (camera module), Primax (eyeball tracking module), etc.," he tweeted.

In terms of how many headsets Apple could produce in 2023, Kuo forecasts "less than 500K units", down from a market consensus of 8,00,000 to 1.2 million units, said the report.