techspot Apple slashes Vision Pro in response to plummeting demand

[UltraMega]

Quote

We heard over the weekend that the Vision Pro headset Apple spent eight years and billions of dollars developing was rapidly losing steam in terms of both interest and sales.
 

After between 160,000 and 180,000 devices were sold in pre-orders across a weekend in January ahead of the official launch, reports claimed Apple Stores were now selling just a handful of units per week. In-store demo bookings were right down, too, and many of those who do book often don't turn up.
 

Now, famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has echoed those reports. He writes that Cupertino has cut its Vision Pro shipments to 400,000 to 450,000 units, around half the 800,000 units that were originally planned, due to waning demand.
 

Kuo adds that Apple cut the orders ahead of the Vision Pro launching in markets outside of the US, the only location it's currently available. This indicates that demand in the United States has fallen sharply beyond expectations, according to the analyst, and that Apple expects similar cool demand in other regions.

Apple slashes Vision Pro production, might cancel 2025 model in response to plummeting demand | TechSpot

 

 

IMO, Apple needs a new CEO. One that is in touch with developing technology vs trying to perfect ideas from ten years ago. The Apple magic is gone. We're all waiting for Apple to come out with a really great AI to revitalize the Siri level excitement, but I don't think they are capable. I've been following this stuff a lot, and AI seems to have caught them really off guard, and I suspect they will be playing catchup from now on. While Microsoft is building on demand AI super computers, Apple is still dicking around. 

 

15 years old, but still feels relevant: 

 

Edited April 25 by UltraMega

[ENTERPRISE]

All I will say is that they launched the product at a time where economically speaking, people are in a worse position financially, at least here in the UK. Granted I consider this product a Halo product based on the price and this was already priced out of reach from most BUT financially we are worse off and I would not be surprised if that was another factor. 

 

Plus I still find Apple a more and more niche market as the years go on. With Apple overall not having the same appeal as they used to, some of the customers they once had that would have jumped on this, have since moved on. So in my opinion they have a smaller market to capitalize on. 

 

Just my view on it.

[Sir Beregond]

3 hours ago, ENTERPRISE said:

All I will say is that they launched the product at a time where economically speaking, people are in a worse position financially, at least here in the UK. Granted I consider this product a Halo product based on the price and this was already priced out of reach from most BUT financially we are worse off and I would not be surprised if that was another factor. 

 

Plus I still find Apple a more and more niche market as the years go on. With Apple overall not having the same appeal as they used to, some of the customers they once had that would have jumped on this, have since moved on. So in my opinion they have a smaller market to capitalize on. 

 

Just my view on it.

This is certainly a very niche product to begin with so it makes a lot of sense in my mind that once people who actually wanted it (and had the means to get it) did, that demand would drop off a cliff.

 

But Apple does have some things bigger scale to think about too. Even MacBook sales are dropping hard. Apple Silicon is probably a double-edged sword for them - great stuff for ultra efficiency and battery life, like I am extremely impressed with the battery life on my work 16" MBP with M1 Pro. But at the same time, this M1 Pro is fine, literally no reason to upgrade to any of the newer models.

Edited April 25 by Sir Beregond

[Alex]

The only surprise is that they didn't expect a halo product to quickly die down in interest? It has for all of their previous halo products.

[UltraMega]

This seems relevant:

Apple Car | Project Titan, Canceled

APPLEINSIDER.COM

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Apple's Project Titan could have led to a fully autonomous Apple Car, but it was canceled in February 2024. Learn about it here.

 

 

They just don't know where to direct all that cash. I think the era of iterating on the same design for mass appeal is just over. As @Sir Beregondpointed out, there is just virtually nothing to gain from upgrades for the average user. 

 

IMO Apple would have been better off focusing on a cheaper VR headset, maybe something around the same cost as an iphone. If they had been able to successfully create an appealing product that felt more in reach, they could have had a shot at creating a new market segment. Still, I think VR is ultimately niche for now and any near future, and it was a mistake to make this an area of focus to begin with. Apple magic goes hand in hand with mass appeal. 

 

Bill Gates wrote a book in 1995 that described his vision for future tech, and in it he described what he called at the time, a "pocket computer". I read the book sometime around 2014, so it was well after smart phones came to fruition, but it was really interesting to see how spot on some of the predictions from Gates were back then. More interesting perhaps, is that Gates had such a clear vision for the future that Microsoft let go to Apple under Balmer despite clear insight that an iphone like device was inevitable. I mention this because back then, there was a clear path to the future of computing. Smaller, better, faster. Now, I'm not sure what comes next for a company like Apple. When the hardware is already so perfected, the only thing left to do is real science. That has never been Apple's focus. Yes, they make some great chips today, but they also typically have a process node advantage from their deep pockets so it's not exactly an even comparison on the engineering side.