Tuesday, July 4th 2023
Apple Reported to be Reducing Factory Output of Vision Pro AR Headset
The Financial Times believes that Apple is running into major production issues related to its Vision Pro mixed reality headset—insider sources claim that the mega-sized multinational technology company is adjusting internal sales goals for the $3499 AR/VR "spatial computer." Leadership had set an ambitious internal target of 1 million units sold in 2024, but the complexity of the system's design has apparently caused major setbacks for manufacturing partners. Apple is reported to have signed up with Luxshare, a Chinese contract manufacturer, to assemble Vision Pro headsets—insiders within both organizations reckon that only 400,000 units will be ready for sale throughout 2024. This number seems to be fairly optimistic given that Trendforce predicted that a mere 200,000 would be shipped next year.
FT gathered information from two other sources placed within the Chinese supply chain—they claim that Apple and Luxshare could encounter major component shortages in 2024, resulting in a production shortfall—with an estimated 130,000 to 150,000 finalized units. The article points out that the most complex (and costly) aspect of the headset lies in its micro-OLED display setup, that also includes outward facing lenses. TSMC and Sony are reported to be the suppliers of these parts (as featured on the prototypes), but Apple is allegedly not satisfied with low production numbers, and not enough batches are "free of defects." A cheaper version of the Vision Pro is apparently now on the backburner, since Apple is unlikely to recoup—factoring in R&D expenses—within the first year of the intial product's launch.
Sources:
Financial Times, IGN News
FT gathered information from two other sources placed within the Chinese supply chain—they claim that Apple and Luxshare could encounter major component shortages in 2024, resulting in a production shortfall—with an estimated 130,000 to 150,000 finalized units. The article points out that the most complex (and costly) aspect of the headset lies in its micro-OLED display setup, that also includes outward facing lenses. TSMC and Sony are reported to be the suppliers of these parts (as featured on the prototypes), but Apple is allegedly not satisfied with low production numbers, and not enough batches are "free of defects." A cheaper version of the Vision Pro is apparently now on the backburner, since Apple is unlikely to recoup—factoring in R&D expenses—within the first year of the intial product's launch.
19 Comments on Apple Reported to be Reducing Factory Output of Vision Pro AR Headset
Can’t work with existing non-Apple ecosystems, can’t work with existing VR tech, can’t be afforded by wider market for these products…. Low demand, Surprised Pikachu!
I'm not sure what type of uber high-grade pharma their folks were partaking of when they wrote the PR about the Vision's prospects, but I sure would like to get some of it :D
Wearing a dorky headset does not work as either a fashion statement or status symbol.
VR in its current form, and even AR, is still tied to a ridiculous, heavy, cumbersome, piece of gear that obscures your view and your emotions for the outside world. You might be physically in the room, but its 10x worse than being in the room with your eyes fixated on your phone. Now you're also waving your arms about like a retard and everyone else still has no clue what for.
Wake me up when they have compacted the whole thing down to a regular pair of glasses. Prior to that? DOA for any widespread use. A little demo? Sure. A virtual tour? Fine. Anything more? Nope
I used the 2019 iMac 27 for work for 6 months. I've read that the CPU was getting hot, that it wasn't always boosting at max speed. But I've never felt that it was slow while using it...Apple products are not perfect but they are really good in key points that make them "safe" to buy for many people. (Apple doesn't sell screens that aren't well calibrated, or barely cover sRGB for example. On the PC side you can easily end up with a shoddy screen if you don't know what you are doing)
This is checking out with the rumors that the product was just revealed too early. Employees tried to tell Cook that he should wait, but he didn't listened to them.
I don't doubt that they will be able to sell out of a million units worldwide during launch -- but will they still need that production capacity going once the launch hype dies down? I very much doubt it. It's too expensive and too niche.
These people are not going to be interested in AR/VR. All the techies who are got driven away from apple ages ago.I believe they claimed something similar with the iphone 14 when production was cut due to utter lack of demand. As in foxconn suddenly forgot how to make phones.Apple has also largely kept their OS the same with minor tweaks year to year, as opposed to MS' massive upheavals every 3-4 years.
Part of it is the captive audience/stockholm syndrome. Once you're on Apple with more than a single device you're trapped in a walled garden and it doesn't matter how good other ecosystems are, you don't want to fight Apple. They'll never play nicely with Microsoft, Amazon, or Google so you're forced to either abandon your app and hardware purchases to get out, or just double-down and keep on Apple-ing.
you guys are boring