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Not so augmented reality.
Apple has reportedly scaled back its internal sales target for its Vision Pro augmented reality headset due to production difficulties.
The tech giant had previously set a target of 1m units sold in 2024, but there are now concerns it won’t be able to produce enough devices.
What’s more, as reported by the FT (thanks IGN), current production issues have pushed back plans for a cheaper version of the $3499 headset.
Sources from Apple and Luxshare – the Chinese manufacturer assembling the Apple Vision Pro – are expecting to make fewer than 400,000 units in 2024. Luxshare seems to be the only company producing the headset, initially at least.
Other sources from Chinese suppliers of specific components used in the headset revealed Apple has only requested enough parts to produce 130,000 – 150,000 units in 2024.
Both of these projections are significantly less than Apple’s 1m unit internal sales target.
The two micro-OLED displays for each eye, plus the outward facing lens, are the biggest challenge to production, suggests FT.
Apple has reportedly been unhappy with Sony and chipmaker TSMC, providers of the displays, due to their productivity and the low number of displays that are “free of defects”.
The Vision Pro, which Apple describes as a “spatial computer”, allows users to experience apps and media in their immediate environment, using voice commands, eye tracking, and hand tracking.
Its micro-OLED displays are said to be “more than a 4K TV for each eye”, and the headset also includes a front screen capable of displaying a user’s eyes.
