Apple Mixed-Reality Headset Shipments Now Estimated to 'Fall Short of 100,000 Units' This Year

[MacRumors]

Apple's mixed-reality headset will be primarily targeted at developers and could now see shipments of fewer than 100,000 units this year, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce reports.

Apple headset concept by Marcus Kane​

TrendForce claims that the headset's high cost, difficulty to manufacture, and focus on developers will "restrict sales predominantly to pre-orders for this year." While Apple's headset could stimulate some new demand in the AR/VR product category, the high price tag of the device, believed to be in the ballpark of ~$3,000, will apparently pose a significant barrier to broader market growth.

Trendforce forecasts that shipments of the new headset will now "fall short" of 100,000 units this year, with Apple potentially capping production at no more than 300,000 units.

In January 2022, Apple was believed to have told its suppliers to expect sales of seven million to 10 million units during its first year on sale. This expectation was then seemingly downgraded to three million units.

In August last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was planning to ship no more than 1.5 million units in 2023. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said that Apple now expects to sell around 900,000 headsets this year. In December last year, Kuo revised his estimate down to "less than 500,000 units."

Gurman has also postulated that Apple may sell only one headset per day per retail store, which would equate to annual sales of just over 180,000 units. TrendForce's estimate of less than 100,000 units is the lowest shipment estimate for Apple's headset to date.

Article Link: Apple Mixed-Reality Headset Shipments Now Estimated to 'Fall Short of 100,000 Units' This Year

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Of course, it'll probably ship on the literal last day possible, like the 2013 MacPro or the iMac Pro.
100,000 units between December 21 and 31

 

[Maclver]

Same story everytime a new class of product is released by Apple.... Then after it sells like hotcakes these same "analysts" will be like "We knew it, Apple does it again, creates worlds best XYZ"

 

[dantracht]

It’s supposed to be THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Are they really surprised?

 

[Spock]

This device sounds very 90s Apple if that makes sense, I guess the difference here is that they can afford this kind of product now.

 

[kiranmk2]

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Not surprised! It’s $3,000 and overly expensive for being a 1st generation product.

 

[appleguy123]

So you’re saying I should buy one, leave it unopened and sell it to a rich idiot in 15 years?

 

[Stella]

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

The first year spent build up a software base, so aiming for developers, the consumer base will come later ( the year after presumably ).

Kind of risky. If the consumers don't come, then developers have wasted their time.

 

[Armada2]

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

This product is aimed at Devs to create for Youtubers to spam our eyes and state why the product is so good and why our whole family and pet dog needs it 😂

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

I think the idea is that by the time the second one ships in two years or so, the price will have been able to come down by quite a bit, and they’ll be enough third-party experiences for customers to be interested.

 

[filmantopia]

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.

There is a lower-priced version coming in 2025. They want a robust ecosystem of apps and content around this thing. I do see it becoming very popular, but it needs time.

Personally I think the 100k estimate for the first year is way too low.

 

[crsh1976]

Call it a limited-availability dev kit to start building a new niche (or anything to sway away from labelling this as a mainstream product) and nobody will care how much it costs.

 

[mozumder]

So you’re saying I should buy one, leave it unopened and sell it to a rich idiot in 15 years?

That only works for successful products.

This isn't going to be one.

 

[Orange Bat]

Apple is going to have to do a lot of selling and convincing for consumers to buy this product. There have been VR headsets for years now and they haven’t really caught on. Most have been built with gaming in mind, but that doesn’t really apply to Apple. Zuckerberg wants to sell them for his failed Metaverse, and that’s been a flop. Apple will have to have a really novel idea for these or else they’ll be a quick failure.

 

[Serge88]

$3000 to be part of the 3D macverse ?

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

So you’re saying I should buy one, leave it unopened and sell it to a rich idiot in 15 years?

For ROI: You are better off holding on to the Sealed Apple Polishing Cloth. I think that will be worth more. 🙈

 

[cocky jeremy]

This thing is DOA.

 

[Kylo83]

I’ll be one of them

 

[klasma]

TrendForce's estimate of less than 100,000 units is the lowest shipment estimate for Apple's headset to date.

I offer an estimate of only 95,000 units!

Do I hear any other bids?

 

[randomthoughts]

* Apple Polishing Cloth Pro Not Included.

 

[guzhogi]

Seems like we've had VR headsets since the late 80s-early 90s, but never quite took off. Gotta wonder how this will go?

 

[AustinIllini]

I'm not sure why I would want this. If this is AR, it looks super unattractive. if it's VR, who wants that? VR flopped pre-COVID

 

[Hopefully Smarter]

You have now encountered an article here written with AI.

Here's how it worked. The story slug is doom and gloom (doomngloom).

The algorithm applies the tag to any new product carefully substituting product name, ship date and price from random calls to data tables.

 

[klasma]

* Apple Polishing Cloth Pro Not Included.

What about the wheels?