Apple VR headset goes on sale today in the UK, Australia, Canada, and other countries, but analysts say it's difficult to reverse the sales slump
Apple's VR headset Vision Pro will be launched in several countries outside the United States, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. According to the Vice President of International Data Corporation, Vision Pro is a relatively new product category, but Apple is technologically ahead of its competitors. However, due to its high price and ecosystem development, Apple faces sales challenges. Tianfeng International Securities analysts predict that Apple's Vision Pro shipments this year will be around 400,000 units
According to CNBC, Apple's (AAPL.US) VR headset Vision Pro will be launched in more countries outside the United States on Friday, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The headset made its debut in the Asian market (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore) on June 28.
Bryan Ma, Vice President of International Data Corporation (IDC), stated that Vision Pro is a relatively new product category and still far from mainstream. He also mentioned that it is a product from Apple that is far ahead of its competitors. However, Ma pointed out the challenge for Apple to maintain the initial hype in the first few weeks and translate it into sustainable sales. Ma commented in an email, "Given the current high price and the ongoing development of the ecosystem for applications and use cases, this will be difficult."
According to a report released by IDC on June 18, Meta (META.US) maintained its leading position in the VR headset market in the first quarter of this year, with Apple's recent entry pushing it to second place. ByteDance, Xreal, and HTC are among the top five players.
IDC stated, "Meta's Quest 3 and Vision Pro help educate users and attract developers to create VR content that merges the digital world with the real world. Unfortunately, this comes at a high price for users."
Tianfeng International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple has lowered its sales expectations for Vision Pro in 2024 from the previous 700,000-800,000 units to around 400,000-450,000 units. Kuo attributed the lower shipment forecast to declining demand. Kuo said, "We expect Apple to ship around 400,000 units of Vision Pro this year, with nearly half of them sold outside the United States, while the total shipment volume of the headset market is 7.3 million units. If we start to see hardware prices drop and the utility of applications increase, this growth could be faster."