Basically anybody could have told you, once Apple revealed the pricing for its Vision Pro augmented reality headset, that the brand would have a hard time shifting units. $3,500 is a steep purchase even for American buyers. But a R70,000 price tag here at home puts it almost beyond reach — even for Apple’s die-hard fans.
That news has filtered down to Apple HQ, according to a report by the Financial Times. Apple is said to be scaling back its ambitions from about a million Vision Pro headsets to somewhere in the region of about 400,000. Happily, depending on your point of view, the cut seems to be more related to manufacturing than a lack of demand.
Scoping out the Vision Pro
The report cites sources both close to Apple (it’s not explained how close) and from the headset’s manufacturer, a company called Luxshare, for information on the headset’s revised production targets. It turns out, folks are just as keen as ever to buy this first-generation Apple product. It’s just proving difficult to get enough of them made. Of course, that could also be what Apple wants us all to think.
Jokes aside, we’ve seen a few brand new products hit the tech space in recent years. The Vision Pro headset uses very high-end, very small components and manufacturing could prove to be a bottleneck that will keep supplies lower than expected. It might even impact the rumoured cheaper version of the headset until whatever issues are cleared up.
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Or it could just be Apple being Apple and pretending there aren’t enough to go around to get you to stand in line on launch date. Those around-the-block queues look so good on the news and on social media, after all.
While you’re waiting to see whether Apple will have enough Vision Pro stock for everyone, why not check out the $40,000 custom edition of the headset, made by a company called Caviar. You can spend R750,000 on a VR headset covered in 18-karat gold and fancy leather, just to prove that Apple’s pricing really wasn’t that bonkers after all. Plus, it’ll look good on the ‘Gram (allegedly). Pay no attention to the extra 1.5kg of weight on your neck. That’s something poor people worry about.
