Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

[DocMultimedia]

Things that would get me to immediately buy: no need for prescription lenses for those that don't have 20/20 (lots of things can already do this), ability to view NFL from multiple angles at a minimum of 1080p, or movies where you can wander around in the film so you can see it from many angles (full 3d even better).

If a single one of those shows up I'll most likely buy. If two show up I'm immediately buying.

But for me personally there just is nothing that interests me.

 

[Seamaster]

I assume those who bought it had enough disposable income anyway. It was a toy for them.

Yeah, it was the new gold Apple Watch.

 

[DonkeyKongGarlic]

Apple Vision Pro, Apple's $3,500 spatial computing device, appears to be following a pattern familiar to the AR/VR headset industry – initial enthusiasm giving way to a significant dip in sustained interest and usage.

Since its debut in the U.S. in February 2024, excitement for the Apple Vision Pro has noticeably cooled, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reports a marked decline in the demand for retail demos and sales, based on the Apple Stores he has spoken to:
The trend that Apple Vision Pro appears to be following is less likely to be a retail anomaly, and more indicative of a broader issue that has plagued VR technology from its inception: Maintaining user engagement after the initial novelty wears off.

Gurman offers his personal experience of Apple's headset as a microcosm of what he suspects is a wider user trend. His own usage has decreased from daily interactions to just once or twice a week. A significant barrier to more frequent use, he says, is a setup that involves attaching batteries, booting up, and navigating a complex interface, which makes traditional devices like laptops and smartphones more appealing for regular tasks.

Gurman also blames the Vision Pro's lack of a "killer app" and compelling content for further diminishing the headset's appeal. He notes that it feels better suited to solitary activities – say, on a long flight or while working from home – rather than for use in social situations or around co-workers.

It seems Apple still has a considerable task ahead in evolving the Vision Pro into a device that redefines everyday technology use. In the meantime, several bugs that initially plagued visionOS have been resolved, although many of Apple's own apps are still not optimized for the device's operating system.

In the last visionOS update, Apple added Spatial Personas, which make it feel like you are in the same virtual room as another Vision Pro user. Spatial Personas can be used for watching movies and TV shows together, FaceTime and other video calls, using apps like Freeform, playing games, and more. However, the feature needs other Vision Pro owners to appreciate it, and as Gurman notes, they are still few and far between.

Apple is expected to produce fewer than 400,000 Vision Pro headsets in 2024 due to the complexity of manufacturing, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. However, Apple is said to be already working on a new version of the Apple Vision Pro for 2025 that will be priced more affordably. Meanwhile, the first incarnation of the headset is expected to arrive in additional countries later this year.

Article Link: Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

Everything Apple makes is high-end and or expensive. It's a matter of money and investment into their ecosystem. There is really no two ways about it. I might buy it at 1500 or perhaps 2K if it would replace some of their other products or services like an iPad experience, but it does not seem that this is what the VP is for.

 

[M999]

Both entertainment value and practical usage of Vision Pro or any other similar AR/VR device in various industries is unmatched by any prior experiences we have had. Think of it as a lever and how it revolutionized lifting heavy objects! I read many opinions on this but frankly without trying it and connecting with the vision, they have shortcomings. Each of my limited experiences on this device has been tremendously positive and beyond the real world! A good example is watching a fantastically put together a story by Gucci. I know sounds funny but so much cleverness and usage of both AR and VR in this beautiful and powerful story. The moment you compare watching the superbowl or Taylor Swift concert on this device, all of the sudden the price is a bargain! And I am talking about just one single super event! ✌️

 

[Jmausmuc]

I am not suprised. Tried this a week ago at 5th Ave in NYC and the demo area still seemed packed. Probably due to all the tourists in NYC wanting to try out the device.

I was initially really impressed by it, especially the resolution and interface is way better then I have ever seen on another VR device.

However, I noticed I was kind of glad to take it off after the 30min demo and felt almost slightly dizzy afterwards.

I just can’t really imagine wearing this for multiple hours a day, especially due to the weight and slight dizzyness it causes for me.

And if I won’t be using it multiple hours a day it’s not worth the 3.5k

 

[dewalt]

I think I said in another thread, but what exactly is the ROI here? Even for consumption purposes, the ROI is horrible. This could be a case of Apple over-engineering a product, and having to place a higher price point on it. Having said that, they're not dumb. They had to know at $3500 this wasn't going to fly off the shelves. It seems more like a market test, and a first run while they figure out how to bring costs down.

 

[Isamilis]

Too expensive and ugly product

 

[FasterQuieter]

I was mostly underwhelmed during the demo. I couldn’t master the look and pinch input model. I’d look and it wouldn’t work, so I was trying to do a kind of mezma stare all the time. Very frustrating. The one game they showed me was an iPad game. Total waste of time. The immersive experiences were cool, but as we know there aren’t many of them. The one thing I would like one for is the ability to watch VR180 in high resolution. I love shooting VR180 and 3D video and this thing is an amazing viewer. The Quest 3 is a very good viewer though and 7 times cheaper.

 

[ghostface147]

Who would’ve guessed. This device is a bust. Too expensive, no killer apps as mentioned, low battery life and heavy. Also, there’s a subset of people who will always be uncomfortable with devices like this because of physical issues like getting headaches or motion sickness. Needs to be half the cost, half the weight, half the size, and three times the battery life and that technology doesn’t exist.

 

[Smith288]

Absolutely predictable. I mean, my Quest 2 will sit and collect dust for weeks/months at a time due to a limitation of it's library that interests me. And it's cheap as hell compared to the Vision.

 

[moshind]

For 300$ or so, I’ll get one, no in-store demo needed.

 

[Smith288]

I’m in the Still-Love-My-Vision-Pro Club. See you at the monthly meeting 🥳

I dont think its the Vision Pro club people that is the issue. Its the reasons Apple is giving to join said club. You're either F-U rich, stupid with bad financial sense, or a tech reviewer. That's the current crop of Vision Pro customers.

 

[wonderings]

Priced to not be mainstream, it will be more interesting when they get the pricing down so regular people can actually afford it. If the iPad or iPhone had been priced at iPhone Max prices today when it was originally released, I wonder how the mainstream adoption would have been.

 

[lkrupp]

"The trend that ‌Apple Vision Pro‌ appears to be following is less likely to be a retail anomaly, and more indicative of a broader issue that has plagued VR technology from its inception: Maintaining user engagement after the initial novelty wears off."

This is the reason, not the Apple trashing by the usual crowd here. Companies should have learned from the Google Glass fiasco. These goggles are not the next big thing as they nave been touted to be. These devices are niche nerd products, period. Do we hear glowing reports of Oculus sales, Meta Quest sales, AVP sales?

Tech companies are constantly on the hunt for the next profit source, the next product that will lift their bottom lines. These gadgets are not that. The general buying public has rejected them all.

 

[trusso]

To paraphrase the inimitable Dr. Cox (from Scrubs): “This is just fantastic news!”

 

[Blue Nova]

I almost forgot this thing existed 🙄. Thank you for reminding me.

Ha ha. I agree.

 

[deaglecat]

I would be interested to hear what is said on 2nd May earnings call.

If they are upfront about good AVP numbers then that will be a good sign ...but if they are evasive or silent on specifics then not so much

(Apple cannot legally mislead investors).

 

[Lift Bar]

The only Apple product I have ever rooted to fail.

 

[DMG35]

Zero surprise. This version of the product is essentially over. Too heavy, unfinished OS, and lack of apps.

 

[jonnyb098]

It died down after a couple weeks….. no one cares about this product in the mainstream. Its main best use case for average people is for watching movies. And you can get an incredible TV and surround sound system for $3500 without giant goggles needed.

 

[cardfan]

It is mind boggling (and borderline criminal) that Apple didn't have a plan for more custom content for Vision Pro.

If there was a weekly or even a month release of jaw-dropping custom content for Vision Pro, it would significantly increase the FOMO of not owning a pair.

As it stands, no one feels like they're missing out on VisionPro.

We all might as well wait 5-10 years until they work out the kinks, the price comes down, and there's some actual content to consume.

Yep. As I said. If apple wants me to spend 3500 then I need to see Apple go all in on it. It’s still apples move. And there’s nothing. Not more of their own apps. 5 mins of new content. App Store still broken. Basically nothing.

 

[DarwinOSX]

I returned both the quest 2 and 3 and didn’t even finish the Visio pro demo.

 

[cardfan]

No one is going to wear a headset 24/7, that is just stupid.

But but people were going to wear this for 8-10 hours a day to work in? What happened? lol

 

[Rogifan]

I’m not surprised. Apple has yet to provide a compelling reason why someone should want this. To me this is the first Apple product (since the second Jobs era) that is cool tech for the sake of it and not a product with a well thought out use case. I don’t think that use case will come, certainly not one worth $3,500.

 

[cardfan]

Unless Apple gets serious about financing application development, it may never have enough apps to generate an ecosystem worth buying into. Same problem with the Mac right now. They are going on and on about gaming, but how much of their annual profits are going to support indies and gaming studios to make the jump into Macs in a serious way. They really need to be subsidising the market for at least five to ten years, to the tune of billions of dollars. Instead they update the chip and expect the gaming industry to do cartwheels over it. It just doens't work that way. Game shops are businesses too and they need to see Apple investing in the sector if they want to go up against an established market. Instead Apple acts like they are doing them a favour.

So much this.