Apple Vision Pro Low-Cost Version Might Be Cancelled, Second Headset Won’t Arrive for Few Years: Ming-Chi Kuo

The Apple Vision Pro – the iPhone maker’s first wearable space computer – is expected to arrive in early 2024, but a rumored cheaper version may have been cancelled. Shipments of the Cupertino company’s first mixed reality headset will still be below market expectations in the first year, and the company may not release the headset for several years, according to details revealed by Tianfeng Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Successor products.

in a New Medium Post Citing the maximum production capacity of some parts suppliers, Kuo claimed that while the market expected Apple to ship 1 million units in the first year, he estimated the company’s shipments would be “at most 400,000 to 600,000 units.” This is consistent with a previous report that made a similar forecast for wearable device production.

Kuo also said that a rumored low-cost version of Apple’s Vision Pro headphones, which was said to be available a year after the first model was launched, may have been canceled by the company. Back in June, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said that a successor to the Apple Vision Pro was already in development, with a cheaper model set to be released by the end of 2025.

The so-called Apple Vision Pro 2 is unlikely to arrive in the first half of 2027, the analyst said. This means that, with the exception of the Vision Pro, Apple is unlikely to launch newer space computers at cheaper or more expensive prices in the next few years.

Back in July, there were reports that the Cupertino company was forced to significantly cut production forecasts for the Apple Vision Pro. It was reported at the time that Luxshare Precision, Apple’s contract manufacturer in China, was working on producing “less than 400,000 units” of the first-generation Apple Vision Pro in the first year.

Earlier this year, Apple announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event that its first space computer would be available in early 2024. Zeiss has since revealed details of the headset’s prescription optical insert. Apple has also released VisionOS development tools, allowing app makers to develop software for the device ahead of its debut next year.