After a series of announcements, reports suggest that Apple is cutting its Vision Pro headset shipment forecast for the rest of the year due to cooling demand.
Vision Pro demand slows
“Apple had started to cut orders for the Vision Pro even before it launched outside of the US,” Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst, Apple, explained. It is believed that his sources claim that Apple expects to sell only around 400,000 to 450,000 units in 2024, compared to what Kuo says was a “market consensus” of 700,000 to 800,000. Reportedly, the demand for the $3,500 Vision Pro saw a fall much lower than the company was expecting.
Experts believe that Apple is now adjusting its headset roadmap and might push the future of a lower-cost entry mixed reality headset beyond 2025 (if at all). Apple’s Vision Pro is expected to have wowed early adopters due to its technical prowess. However, it might not be enough to hold on to all of them past the return period.
What’s next!
Industry experts explain that Apple is often a trendsetter in new product markets, and in case Vision Pro performs badly, it could leave reverberations for the whole industry. Kuo believes that “Demands for certain VR and AR-specific components, such as the Micro OLED displays, may not reach the adoption rate needed for mass production to make it into other devices.”
However, experts believe that its too early to see what might happen after the big step that Apple has taken. Critics suggest that this can be Apple’s strategy to bring in more new upgraded version of VR or AR products.
