Apple Vision Pro production cutbacks due to lack of demand

Foreign media The Information has reported that production of Apple Vision Pro, which was released in February 2024, is expected to be reduced from November 2024 due to 'too little demand.'

Apple Sharply Scales Back Production of Vision Pro — The Information
https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-sharply-scales-back-production-of-vision-pro

Report: Apple May Stop Producing Vision Pro by the End of 2024 - MacRumors
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/10/23/apple-may-stop-producing-vision-pro-by-end-of-2024/

Apple Vision Pro is a mixed reality headset computer released by Apple on February 2, 2024. It was highly anticipated, having been selected as one of the top 10 breakthrough technologies of 2024 , but even the cheapest 256GB model was priced at 599,800 yen (tax included), making it a product that was not easily affordable.

It was released in Japan on June 28, 2024. You can find out what kind of device the Apple Vision Pro is by reading the article below.

Apple's first high-end MR headset 'Apple Vision Pro' for about 600,000 yen has finally been released in Japan, so I opened it and set it up - GIGAZINE

As of October 2024, Luxshare, the Chinese company responsible for assembling the Apple Vision Pro, is manufacturing about 1,000 Apple Vision Pro units per day. However, demand for Apple Vision Pro has been sluggish due to a lack of content and high prices, and Apple has told Luxshare that it may scale back production in November.

However, suppliers of parts for Apple Vision Pro have already begun reducing production, with some factories reportedly stopping production of parts for Apple Vision Pro as early as May 2024. 'This is a clue that warehouses are stockpiling tens of thousands of parts, and that there is enough stock to meet demand through 2025,' The Information reports.

Apple has reportedly halted development of its second-generation product, the Vision Pro 2, in favor of a cheaper headset.

Apple plans to release a cheaper version of the Apple Vision Pro for about 300,000 yen in 2025, 'Vision Pro 2' in 2026, and smart glasses and camera-equipped AirPods in 2027 - GIGAZINE

It has been leaked that Apple has told its suppliers that it plans to produce 4 million units of the budget headset, half the number of units that Apple Vision Pro will produce, so sales prospects for the budget version are likely to be even lower.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Apple CEO Tim Cook said, 'At $6,000, it's not a mass-produced product,' and 'Right now, this is a product for early adopters. People who want tomorrow's technology today. That's what this product is for. And fortunately, there are enough of those people out there that it's exciting.'

Hacker News, a news site for engineers, has commented that 'Apple Vision Pro feels like a development kit sold in the hope that someone will come up with a killer app,' and 'It's effectively a 'development kit' in every respect except for the name, but it probably wouldn't have sold if it had been called a development kit.'