It seems the complex technology in Apple’s $3,499 augmented reality headset is providing headaches for manufacturers.
Apple is reportedly scaling back production of the Apple Vision Pro ahead of its launch next year – and it’s not because only a tiny group of lucky people can possibly afford to drop $3,499 on this expensive piece of augmented reality kit. Apparently, manufacturers are struggling to make enough of the AR headsets as a result of their complex design.
As reported by the FT (spotted via IGN), Apple had an original sales target of 1 million units for the debut year of the Vision Pro. But the Chinese manufacturer of the headset, Luxshare, expects to make less than 400,000 units in the first 12 months, according to sources inside Apple and Luxshare.
In addition, sources from the Chinese suppliers of components for the Vision Pro have said that Apple has only requested enough components to make between 130,000 and 150,000 of the devices.
The lower-than-expected manufacturing output is apparently the result of the complexity of the Vision Pro, and specifically the screens and lens. The FT article notes that making the micro-OLED displays for each eye, in addition to the outward-facing lens, is the biggest challenge Apple faces. These micro-OLED screens will have a ridiculously high resolution – Apple has claimed that they will display more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye, or around 23 million pixels in total, all on displays about an inch across. Clearly, creating these screens is proving something of a challenge.
Sony and TSMC, a semiconductor manufacturer, created the Vision Pro prototypes, but according to the FT report, Apple was unhappy with the low levels of productivity and high rate of defects. It might take some time for Apple to work up a manufacturing process that enables the company to produce sufficient numbers of these high-tech headsets.
But given the extreme cost, I can’t help but wonder whether the demand for them will be there. Will the Vision Pro forever remain a niche product? Unless they can get the price down considerably, I think it might.
Read more: Apple Vision Pro | Huge price tag aside, what does it offer gamers?
