Apple’s Vision Pro, the company’s mixed reality headset, is now available in more countries outside the United States.
Starting Friday, June 12, customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K. can purchase the Vision Pro. This follows the headset’s debut in Asian markets on June 28, which included China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore.
In London, one of Apple’s largest stores on Regent Street has started offering demo slots for the Vision Pro. These demos provide potential buyers the opportunity to experience the headset firsthand, a crucial step given its steep $3,499 price tag, which is significantly higher than other mass-market headsets.
While Apple has long allowed in-store testing for other gadgets, the Vision Pro’s newness and high cost make these demos particularly important for convincing customers of its value.
The excitement surrounding the Vision Pro is significant, as noted by Bryan Ma, vice president of International Data Corporation (IDC). He emphasized that the Vision Pro is a “relatively new product category that is far from mainstream,” and Apple’s implementation of this technology is seen as far ahead of its competitors.
However, Ma also highlighted the challenge Apple faces in maintaining the initial excitement and converting it into sustainable sales, especially given the high price and the still-developing ecosystem of applications and use cases.
Impact on the Mixed Reality Headset Market
According to an IDC report published on June 18, Apple has already made a notable impact in the mixed/virtual reality headset market. In the first quarter, Meta maintained its leading position, but Apple’s entry with the Vision Pro quickly propelled it to the No. 2 spot.
Other top contenders included ByteDance, Xreal, and HTC. The IDC report noted that both Meta’s Quest 3 and the Vision Pro have played significant roles in educating users and encouraging developers to create mixed reality content, blending digital and physical worlds. However, the report also pointed out that this innovation comes at a premium price for users.
Apple Revised Sales Expectations for Vision Pro
Despite the enthusiasm, Apple has reportedly revised its sales expectations for the Vision Pro.
Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst at TF International Securities, indicated that Apple reduced its shipment forecast for 2024 from an initial 700,000 to 800,000 units to around 400,000 to 450,000 units. This adjustment is attributed to declining demand.
IDC’s Ma mentioned that Apple is expected to ship about 400,000 units this year, with nearly half of these sales occurring outside the U.S. He suggested that the market could grow more rapidly if hardware prices decrease and the utility of applications increases.
Featured Image courtesy of Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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