Apple severely cuts Vision Pro production, and may stop it completely very soon

AppleInsider

Production of the Apple Vision Pro scaled back considerably over the summer, but a new report claims there's a chance Apple may stop it entirely by the end of the year.

Apple Vision Pro

The Apple Vision Pro isn't a mass-market device with massive sales versus the rest of the rest of Apple's range. The relatively lower sales figures gives Apple new supply chain challenges, which it is still working out.

According to sources of The Information involved in component production for the headset, Apple reduced orders for the Apple Vision Pro early in the summer. However, the cut in production may not end there, as it is believed Apple could end up stopping assembly of the headset by the end of 2024.

Part of the decision is due to having ample supplies of the headset and components to make more to meet demand for the foreseeable future. It is claimed suppliers have produced enough components to produce approximately 600,000 headsets.

As for the assembly of the Apple Vision Pro, Luxshare has halved production of the headset to about 1,000 units per day. Apple has reportedly told Luxshare that manufacturing may have to wind down by November.

Analysts believe Apple sold approximately 370,000 headsets in the first three quarters of 2024, and will only sell another 50,000 by the end of the year. Meanwhile, it is thought that Luxshare has assembled between 500,000 and 600,000 headsets, meaning there are about 200,000 headsets in storage.

One of the reasons Apple may be trimming production and letting existing supplies run for a while is because of its work on a new cheaper model for consumers. A $2,000 version is expected to go on sale in 2026, with changes including lower-resolution displays, the loss of Eyesight, and other cost-saving changes.

A second-gen model of Apple Vision Pro is also forecasted to arrive, with production anticipated for the second half of 2025. If accurate, Apple's existing stock of first-gen units may be enough to feed demand until the second-gen iteration launches.

These plans may still change, as the Apple Vision Products Group is still tryingto work out the best way forward for the hardware category. There's always the prospect of coming up with smart glasses similar to Meta's Ray-Ban collaboration, or to go down the route of the "Holy Grail" AR spectacles.



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Afarstar

“If accurate, Apple's existing stock of first-gen units may be enough to feed demand until the second-gen iteration launches.”

What demand?

opinion

Well, this is probably a sign that's in consistency with some other approaches Apple have in lack of customer insight as I see it. Some want a smaller iPhone - they keep getting bigger, some want a bigger iMac - it's still no one in sight, some want a new ergonomic mouse - not one in sight, some want a new Airport range - nope. Of course there are products like the Apple Vision Pro that might have a bit of a uphill to get acceptance, I remember some even questioned the iPad when it came but look at it now. But, "to make the best products" should also be done with the end price in mind. I kind of accepted that Apple has a higher price tag on their products because they are so good but with the Apple Vision Pro the price tag is out of this world.

spliff monkey

I doubt they are entirely giving up on AVP, but if they would just focus on games and entertainment (They should be doing many more exclusive concerts and sports with AVP) then they can bide time while the corporate world finds their uses AND Apple can start working on a more affordable option.

sflagel

AVP is exclusively a consumption device. Focus on that and produce a lot of content. Then maybe, maybe, people will buy it. 

caskey

Afarstar said:

“If accurate, Apple's existing stock of first-gen units may be enough to feed demand until the second-gen iteration launches.”

What demand?

370,000 in 8 months...so on average around 1,500 a day. Just because YOU might not want one doesn't mean others don't. Is it selling in the same quantities as iPhone? Of course not, it's a niche product, but I'm sure there's plenty of firms out there that would see a sales number of 1,500 units a day as quite a good demand. It's all relative.

ralphbu

Obviously it's not the final version but Apple is definitely on the right track with the Vision Pro. The virtual display is the killer app for me and it will only get better as they add a second monitor via software later this year. You can set up your office anywhere and work in complete privacy with a screen 4 times as large as your laptop screen and much clearer. I use it every day. and I've had it since launch,

 Once you work out your best system for the head strap, it's not particularly heavy either, and people seem to understand you can see them while you're wearing it, just like you were wearing ski googles - that must be due to the "eyesight."  It can be great on a plane too, as long as the plane's wifi doesn't screw up the virtual display connection. 3d content and brilliant 3d conversion of existing photos - they are unique the vision pro and once you've had them, you ain't going back. Also, Panoramas - all those panoramic photos you've taken are suddenly worlds you can inhabit again. Amazing.

mikethemartian

That’s better than the Atari Jaguar.

avon b7

caskey said:

Afarstar said:

“If accurate, Apple's existing stock of first-gen units may be enough to feed demand until the second-gen iteration launches.”

What demand?

370,000 in 8 months...so on average around 1,500 a day. Just because YOU might not want one doesn't mean others don't. Is it selling in the same quantities as iPhone? Of course not, it's a niche product, but I'm sure there's plenty of firms out there that would see a sales number of 1,500 units a day as quite a good demand. It's all relative.

The numbers sound great to me too, all things considered. Obviously a niche line but there is no substitute for real world feedback and performance metrics to build on.

mike1

opinion said:

Well, this is probably a sign that's in consistency with some other approaches Apple have in lack of customer insight as I see it. Some want a smaller iPhone - they keep getting bigger, some want a bigger iMac - it's still no one in sight, some want a new ergonomic mouse - not one in sight, some want a new Airport range - nope. Of course there are products like the Apple Vision Pro that might have a bit of a uphill to get acceptance, I remember some even questioned the iPad when it came but look at it now. But, "to make the best products" should also be done with the end price in mind. I kind of accepted that Apple has a higher price tag on their products because they are so good but with the Apple Vision Pro the price tag is out of this world.

Oh, please! Do you really think Apple lacks customer insight?! "Some want" is not a go-to-market strategy or how any large company decides to deliver new products or which products/markets to enter. Apple does not do niche products, for the most part. Especially those that will not be profitable.

Apple offered iPhone 12 and 13 Mini models. Do you think, for one second, that if those models had any success, there would not have been a 14 mini? Despite the fact that some people may prefer a smaller form factor, clearly there are not enough to justify the investment in the smaller model. Look around. Is anyone offering a small phone these days? Despite the desires of a few, the wider market is asking is for phones with larger screens.

Some may desire a larger iMac, but I am sure Apple would have a pretty good idea how many they would sell and base the decision to develop/produce such a model on that info. Again, they used to make two larger models. They weren't discontinued/not replaced because they were wildly successful. With most sales being laptops these days, I would bet that Apple felt that a single 24" iMac would cover the requirements for most of the people, most of the time. Not a big enough business here to focus on outliers.

Routers and mice are commodities. Apple does not need to offer a range of mouses (mice?) to round out their product line. Go buy one of the thousands of mice currently on the market. What value could Apple bring to the router that would justify the higher price and allow them to sell enough to make it worth doing? If there was an opportunity to do so, they likely would. All these tertiary products still take time and resources.

mpantone

Afarstar said:

“If accurate, Apple's existing stock of first-gen units may be enough to feed demand until the second-gen iteration launches.”

What demand?

It's mostly enterprise customers. Medicine, architecture, CAD/CAM design, etc.

It's not a consumer device and there are very few consumer usage cases for it. It simply isn't priced to compete with a $299 Meta Quest VR HMD which can play a bunch of games from the Meta Quest store as well as Steam.

tzterri

Sometime ago, I did a Catering to some kind of medical training center. Many of them in training were wearing these. I could see on the computer monitor what they were seeing and it was pretty awesome.

foregoneconclusion

So many bad takes on the AVP.

Mobile computing that provides large screens/multiple screens isn't going to go away. It's really the only way to go forward. Apple's largest laptop screen is only 4 inches larger than the monitor that Commodore sold for the C64 back in the early 1980s. Mobile is held back by the small screens and AVP style computing is the way to change that. 

kkqd1337

Wow they have sold and manufactured a lot more than I would have guessed!

To be fair it looks like a really cool product, I would love to have one to play with. It's just too expensive, too niche, and it's a form factor that just isn't catching on. 

Someone will either create a better device, or better use case for it, or it will go the same way as the 3D TV.