Now that the Apple Vision Pro has been out for almost three months, sales have begun declining according to Bloomberg insider Mark Gurman. Now, in his newsletter ‘Power On’, Gurman says Apple is apparently “flummoxed” by how to make a cheaper Vision Pro.
Apple’s headset was already a hard sell at $3,499. It didn’t help that the XR industry is still a niche market with a very small user base. Gurman had mentioned last week that Vision Pro sales had declined. He also suggested a low-end iPhone to help revive smartphone sales as well.
There’s also talks of Vision Pro production being reduced to combat the slump in sales. This is happening while Meta just had a promising Q1 for Meta Quest revenue following the strongest Q4 its VR division has ever seen. All in all, Apple really needs a cheaper variant of the Vision Pro. But apparently they just can’t figure out how to do that.
Apple’s latest Vision Pro road map doesn’t currently call for a second-generation model until the end of 2026, though the company is trying to figure out a way to bring a cheaper version to market before then. Apple is still flummoxed by how exactly to bring down the cost, I’m told.
— Mark Gurman, Power On, April 2024
What stood out to me from this excerpt was Apple’s updated roadmap for the Vision Pro. The company previously planned to release a second Vision Pro in 2025. These plans got shelved once Apple realized the Vision Pro wasn’t even coming close to the sales numbers it had predicted before launch.
As analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says, the Vision Pro’s performance in the United States has probably forced Apple to revise their sales forecasts for the upcoming global launch. But as long as the Vision Pro remains priced at $3,499, I think it’s safe to say that not many are going to be buying one.
The Vision Pro shines at what it does. | Image credit — PhoneArena
The Vision Pro is one of the best AR headsets on the market today. But, in my opinion, it simply isn’t worth the asking price for the average consumer. It doesn’t have nearly as many uses as I’d like. And with Meta Horizon OS going open-source there’s even more incentive to get an XR headset that’s not the Vision Pro.
Not only does Apple need to come out with a cheaper Vision Pro. The company also needs to let users play PC VR games if it has any hope of making the Vision Pro a serious competitor in the XR industry.
Abdullah is an ardent believer in the future of VR, and can't wait to see what more it brings to the table as technology improves. He enjoys covering new software releases in the XR industry, as well as major news about hardware and companies focused on VR.
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