According to South Korean media reports, sources say that Apple has significantly lowered its sales target for its Mixed Reality (MR) headset, with initial orders coming in at just 150,000 units, well below the market's previous expectation of 1 million units.
On Monday (June 5), Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23) was held in San Francisco, where the tech giant unveiled its first MR headset, the Vision Pro, priced at $3,499.
Just one day later, several Silicon Valley component manufacturers told the press that the tech giant had actually placed only 150,000 orders for the Vision Pro before Apple announced it.
One industry source noted that the figure was shocking, as the market had initially expected Apple to reduce its initial orders from 1 million units to 300,000, not realizing that the company would reduce them even further to 150,000 units closer to the product's launch.
The person added that after monitoring the sales progress of the first 150,000 units, Apple may place more orders, "but we are not sure if the company will raise its sales target as parts are usually purchased in advance."
The report noted that Apple doesn't place orders based on annual sales targets and that the company usually bases them on the life cycle of its products. Previously, an investment bank predicted that mass production might not begin until October this year, and the headset is currently expected to go on sale in early 2024.
Following Apple's announcement of the Vision Pro, the market's view of this "most important product of the last 10 years" is polarized. On the one hand, it is believed that the $3499 price tag will be the main resistance to the popularity of this MR headset. Leading analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said Apple had not demonstrated the need to use the Vision Pro daily.
On the other hand, it is believed that Apple's new product achieves a giant leap in MR in terms of capability and execution. Matthew Panzarino, editor-in-chief of TechCrunch, a leading tech media outlet, noted that after trying almost every VR and AR device on the market, none of them could match Apple's product.
Some analysts believe that once released, Apple MR will become the explosive model that leads the consumer electronics market in a big way, will rewrite the rules of the game in the industry, and will directly drive the demand for orders from the hardware industry chain to improve. Other analysts say that like the iPhone and other products, Vision Pro will help Apple control the high-end MR headset market.
At the same time, there is also the view that even with Apple's entry, the concept of "metaverse" is only "barely alive," according to Laserfiche executives, "virtual worlds are not dead, they are on life support. The focus is on Apple's headset. The focus will be on whether the launch of Apple's headset will accelerate the development of hardware and software in this space."
Jay Ferro, an executive at technology company Clario, believes that while Apple's Vision Pro is exciting, they still haven't solved some fundamental problems: "No matter how cool the headset is, it's still limited in range, still bulky, and still uncomfortable to wear.