Summary
- Apple has reportedly ceased production of its $3,500 Vision Pro headset due to low sales and unsold stockpile.
- Features such as voice commands and spatial games failed to drive sustained interest.
- The headset’s steep price and unclear value proposition hindered mainstream adoption.
Apple has reportedly ceased production of its $3,500 Vision Pro headset due to unsold stockpiling up and disappointing sales figures, despite expanding availability to markets in Europe and Asia. The launch in these regions has failed to boost demand, leaving Apple with a substantial inventory surplus. Throughout 2024, multiple reports have surfaced regarding Apple’s Vision Pro headset, a device designed to merge augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to enhance productivity and introduce users to spatial computing. However, disappointing sales figures have forced Apple to significantly reduce production, with plans to halt it entirely by early 2025.
Marketed as a “spatial computer,” the Apple Vision Pro promised to seamlessly blend digital content with physical spaces. Users could navigate apps and media through voice commands, eye tracking, and hand gestures, with supported “spatial games” like What the Golf?, Game Room, and Super Fruit Ninja. However, these features haven’t been enough to drive sustained interest or widespread adoption. Initially, Apple aimed to sell one million units within the Vision Pro’s first year. That target was later halved and has since been quietly revised downward again.
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According to The Information, Apple’s component manufacturers had supplied enough parts for at least 500,000 headsets by October 2024, but only around 370,000 units had been sold. This left tens of thousands of undelivered components sitting idle. Around the same time, MacRumors revealed that Apple had informed Luxshare Precision Co. Ltd., the Chinese company responsible for assembling the device, that production would need to be phased out by November. At its peak, Luxshare was reportedly producing about 2,000 Vision Pro units per day, but by October, that number had dwindled to just 1,000 daily. While production lines have not been fully dismantled, leaving room for potential reactivation, the likelihood of a sales resurgence remains slim given the persistent lack of consumer interest in the Apple Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro Production Allegedly Halted
The Financial Times previously reported similar figures, suggesting fewer than 400,000 units would be produced by the end of last year. Both reports indicate that Apple’s internal sales expectations were significantly scaled back due to ongoing production challenges, particularly with the device’s two micro-OLED displays and outward-facing lens. The Vision Pro’s unclear value proposition has made it difficult for Apple to capture mainstream interest, leaving the device’s long-term future, and Apple’s AR/VR strategy, in doubt.
The Vision Pro’s steep price, nearly ten times the cost of popular Meta Quest VR headsets, has also likely deterred many potential buyers, even among VR enthusiasts. Back in October 2024, the Wall Street Journal ran a profile on Apple CEO Tim Cook and during that interview he spoke about the Apple Vision Pro’s retail price. “At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product,” he said. “Right now, it’s an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrow’s technology today—that’s who it’s for.” While this outlook might seem uncertain, he emphasized that none of Apple’s successes “happened overnight.”
While Apple reportedly plans to continue developing future devices in the mixed-reality space, the company has yet to clearly define a compelling usage case for the Vision Pro. For now, the Vision Pro seems to represent an ambitious but flawed step into the world of mixed reality, leaving the future of Apple’s headset strategy uncertain.
Apple
Apple began as a small tech company that evolved into one of the most innovative and well-known brands in all of computing and mobile phones. Their iPhone sees a massive following and they’ve since spread their umbrella to include streaming services and original productions.