Daily Crunch: AR Startups face an uneasy future in 2019

The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here:

1. Magic Leap and other AR startups have a rough 2019 ahead of them 

2018 was supposed to be the year where the foundation of AR was set to expand, but now it looks like momentum has been sucked out of the industry’s heavy hitters.

2. Sorry I took so long to upgrade, Apple 

Apple missed Wall Street’s Q1 sales projections yesterday and the company blamed faltering sales in China for the reason behind the drop. But let’s not kid ourselves; anyone who has an iPhone now is part of the problem. As essential as these devices have become to our lives, it’s too hard for many consumers around the world to justify spending more than $1,000 for a new phone.

BERND THISSEN/AFP/Getty Images

3. China’s lunar probe makes history by successfully soft-landing on the far side of the moon

China crossed a major milestone in space exploration last night by becoming the first country to land a probe on the far side of the moon. Named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e 4 will use a low-frequency radio to survey the terrain of the moon.

4. Mary Meeker targets $1.25B for debut fund, called Bond

With Bond, Meeker is set to be the first woman to raise a $1 billion-plus VC fund.

5. Money is no object: China’s Luckin sets sights on rivaling Starbucks 

Caffeinated drinks are taking off in the tea-drinking nation. Luckin, which is only a year old, has announced an ambitious plan to topple Starbucks and expand to 6,000 stores by 2022.

6. 10 predictions on the future of gaming in 2019 

Will the gaming industry clutch up in 2019?

7. Segway unveils a more durable electric scooter and autonomous delivery bot 

Segway’s Model Max scooter is designed to help services like Bird and Lime reduce their respective operating and maintenance costs, while its new Loomo delivery bot is made for autonomous deliveries for food, packages and other items.

https://tcrn.ch/2BYQuGw Daily Crunch: AR Startups face an uneasy future in 2019 https://tcrn.ch/2LQGFPb