Following a report earlier this week that curiosity within the Imaginative and prescient Professional is waning, it seems like Apple is now scaling again considerably on the variety of Imaginative and prescient Professional models it plans to ship this 12 months.
Whereas many early adopters enthusiastically embraced the Imaginative and prescient Professional when it launched in February — Apple reportedly bought practically 200,000 models within the first two weeks of availability, and potential prospects lined up for demos — the thrill for the brand new gadget dropped off sharply a lot ahead of anticipated.
Some stories recommended an unusually excessive return fee for the brand new headset, and although it wasn’t clear if returns were truly higher than normal, most of the people who did carry it again complained of it being heavy, uncomfortable, cumbersome, and restricted within the variety of apps and content material accessible.
The issue didn’t simply prolong to Imaginative and prescient Professional gross sales. Demand for in-store demos has also tanked, with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reporting earlier this week that few individuals are reserving appointments to expertise the headset, and plenty of who do schedule demos don’t even trouble exhibiting up for them.
Apple appears to have observed this dwindling enthusiasm and responded by ramping up the advertising push once more whereas additionally tempering its expectations. In a post on Medium today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Apple has minimize the variety of Imaginative and prescient Professional shipments for 2024 in half:
Apple has minimize its 2024 Imaginative and prescient Professional shipments to 400–450k models (vs. market consensus of 700–800k models or extra).
What’s noteworthy is that this discount comes on the cusp of a more global launch for the Vision Pro, which means that demand within the US has fallen off so sharply that Apple is way much less assured about how effectively the headset will promote in different markets.
In some methods, that might not be notably shocking for a $3,500 headset. It’s additionally essential to keep in mind that Kuo is an analyst who interprets tendencies and infrequently has strong perception into what Apple executives are literally considering.
As an illustration, Kuo mentioned the “market consensus” was that Apple would ship between 700,000 and 800,000 Imaginative and prescient Professional headsets this 12 months. These numbers are coming from Apple’s provide chain, however the particular supply is unclear, so it’s exhausting to inform whether or not Apple anticipated to promote 800,000 headsets or it was merely making ready suppliers for the chance.
It’s additionally price noting that the Monetary Occasions reported last summer that Apple had already scaled again its plans to supply solely 400,000 models all through all of 2024, which was half of its unique ambition. It appears odd that Apple would have doubled that quantity solely to chop it in half once more.
Alongside the identical traces, Kuo now predicts that the Imaginative and prescient Professional’s poor efficiency has resulted in Apple presumably canceling its plans for a brand new mannequin in 2025. The corporate as a substitute expects that shipments of the present first-generation mannequin will merely proceed to say no.
The cynical method of studying that is that Apple is already giving up on the Imaginative and prescient Professional, or no less than going again to the drafting board on what to do for a sequel. Nonetheless, that’s not how Apple rolls, and we’ve already heard that it’s hard at work on a lighter second-generation model and even a more affordable one.
One of many greatest challenges with predictions from provide chain sources is that whereas analysts are sometimes fairly correct about merchandise and parts, it’s exhausting to measure timelines. Studies of a Imaginative and prescient Professional successor arriving in 2025 got here primarily from Kuo; Gurman has shared plans of what’s coming subsequent however hasn’t mentioned a lot about after we can anticipate it. Not getting a brand new Imaginative and prescient Professional in 2025 isn’t precisely unhealthy information if Apple by no means deliberate to launch a brand new one subsequent 12 months within the first place.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]