Citing unnamed sources involved with building the Vision Pro headset’s components, a Reuters report Wednesday (Oct. 23) said that production has been significantly reduced.
A source at Luxshare, the device’s assembler, said that Apple communicated to the company “that it might need to wind down its manufacturing in November,” the report said. Another source even said their factory suspended production of Vision Pro components in May.
So far, Apple has not responded to the report.
In an April blog post, Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of worldwide developer relations and enterprise marketing, touted the device’s spatial computing for customizing workspaces, collaboration with 3-D designs, and potential for delivering specialized employee training and guiding remote fieldwork. “There’s tremendous opportunity for businesses to reimagine what’s possible using Apple Vision Pro at work,” she said.
But those tools come with a high price tag. The Vision Pro mixed reality headset starts at $3,500, compared to competitors like Meta’s Quest 3, which is priced around $500.
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According to Reuters, sales dropped after an initial surge of interest when Apple launched the product in February. “Apple launched the Vision Pro in international markets earlier this year to reinvigorate demand at a time when it rushes to incorporate artificial intelligence into its flagship mobile devices to get ahead of rivals,” Reuters said.
Also, in April analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote in a blog post that Apple initially anticipated shipping between 700,000 and 800,000 units in 2024, but then revised that expectation down to between 400,000 and 450,000 units.
Meanwhile, other reports suggest that Apple is pivoting, perhaps working on a more affordable Vision Pro product targeted at a broader consumer base. Highlighting a post on X by Kuo, AppleInsider.com hinted that the next generation of Vision Pro will come with the AI engine Apple Intelligence.
However, Apple may have bigger problems than lack of interest in the Vision Pro. A PYMNTS report said that U.S. sales of the California-based company’s signature product, the iPhone, have “remained relatively flat since the 2020 — which is part of the reason Apple stopped reporting the number of devices sold.”
