Apple has called the Vision Pro the ‘most advanced consumer electronics device ever created’, but a hefty price tag and a slow international roll-out may be stifling the product’s success.
Apple’s venture into the VR market – the Vision Pro – will struggle to reach a large market and its sales are expected to plummet in the US, according to analysts speaking with Bloomberg.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) claims that Apple’s Vision Pro has failed to reach more than 100,000 sales per quarter since its launch. The Vision Pro was announced at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2023, but didn’t see a launch in the US until the start of February.
The Vision Pro is Apple’s first mixed reality headset that acts as what the company calls a “spatial computer”, which gives users a three-dimensional interface that is controlled by their eyes, hands and voice.
Apple CEO Tim Cook hyped up the product at the start of 2024 and called it the “most advanced consumer electronics device ever created”. But the product also came with a massive price tag, costing $3,499 at launch.
The device has also had a very slow release, making its way to US stores and only being brought to a few other markets such as China and Singapore at the end of June. Meanwhile, the IDC predicts that US sales for the Vision Pro will drop by 75pc this quarter.
Apple has been working to enhance the capabilities of the Vision Pro to make it more appealing. Earlier this month, the company revealed plans to bring various AI-powered features to the mixed reality headset.
There are also reports that Apple is working on a cheaper alternative to the current Vision Pro headset. But these updates are not expected until 2025 and may come too slowly for Apple to make a decent dent in an already competitive market.
Meta already has a strong performer in the space with its Quest line of VR headsets, the most recent and advanced of which is the Quest 3, which was unveiled in September 2023. At $500, its starting price is significantly lower than the Apple headset.
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