Apple Vision Pro expected to arrive in more markets after WWDC
With WWDC 2024 less than a month away, rumors have shifted to the Apple Vision Pro expanding overseas afterwards.
Apple Vision Pro will be arriving in more Apple Stores worldwide
It's not going to be before WWDC now, so it has to be afterwards. Tim Cook has already publicly said that the Apple Vision Pro will launch in China during 2024.
Plus shortly after the US-only headset launch, Apple began recruiting for what it calls Briefing Experience Specialists in Australia and Japan. The role includes demonstrating the Apple Vision Pro to customers.
That specific recruitment began in March, so hiring and training will have at least begun some time ago. However, Bloomberg is saying that Apple has now begun bringing overseas staff to Cupertino to train them on the demonstration and fitting of the headset.
That does imply that sales will begin soon, and there may be a clue about the first overseas locations in who is being trained. Reportedly, staff have been brought to Apple Park from Australia, China, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, France, and Germany.
If the list is correct, then the inclusion of China implies that Apple has possibly surmounted a trademark issue that threatened to mean if couldn't use the name "Vision Pro" in the country.
Also, it's unusual to not see Canada or the UK listed for a launch of a device, but it's not possible to know whether the country list is complete. Plus, visionOS does include references to both countries in code discovered in March.
Members of Apple's US-based retail staff underwent what appears to be similar training, just ahead of the headset's launch in the States. It involves how to take a customer through what's typically a 25-minute demonstration and trial in store.
At launch in the US, the Apple Vision Pro cost from $3,499, although at times since then it has seen discounts of up to $200. International pricing is likely to stay broadly in line with the US, although there are currency fluctuations, and some territories include tax in the published price.
The Apple Vision Pro starts with 256GB storage, but can be bought with 512GB or 1TB. As with the US, optical inserts are sold separately.
One potential downside to the Apple Vision Pro launching overseas three months after it did in the US, is that this means Apple is one full quarter closer to releasing a second headset. As of late, the Apple Vision Pro follow-up has been rumored to arrive in late 2025 or early 2026.
Rumor Score: Likely
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