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What is Apple doing? Seriously? When will it come to more countries??

dapa0s

dapa0s

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 2, 2019
539
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I‘ve been waiting for one here in Austria for years, when will it finally come? What about the rest of EU countries? How can they possibly not just ship it here already?

And worst of all, there is no information anywhere on any potential release…

Anyone else in Europe angry at Apple about this? Surely I can‘t be the only one.
 
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Apple are working hard to bring Vision Pro to more countries. Rest assured, more information will be provided once Apple has an update about expanding roll-out to additional countries.
 
I really hope you're right, and I personally know many people already who are in Austria and waiting to buy and try one, and I'm sure there are many others from the rest of the EU countries (which is a huge market), waiting for a chance to buy it.
 
AL2TEACH said:
www.macrumors.com

When Is Apple Vision Pro Coming Out in the UK and Elsewhere?

Apple Vision Pro, Apple's spatial computing headset, is now available to buy in the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia. The...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com
unless something had happened.
Click to expand...
Yeah, and nothing has happened since then, and it's been almost a year.

It became available in the United Arab Emirates last October, as well as South Korea. United Arab Emirates have a population around the same size as Switzerland, and Switzerland is a richer country, and most people speak German and French there, yet it is still not available, but is in France and Germany lol. Similar situation with Belgium and Austria, countries that also have Apple Stores.

Some other rich and big European countries where the AVP is NOT available include: Italy (59 million people), Spain (47 million), Netherlands (18 million), Sweden (10.5 million), Switzerland (9 million), Belgium (11.6 million), Austria (9 million), Norway (5.5 million), Denmark (5.9 million), Finland (5.6 million). Poland is not that rich, but it has an Apple majority market, surpassing even Samsung now, at around 31% of mobile devices being Apple, and it has 38 million people. There are other big countries as well, of course, and that is just Europe.

How can they be experimenting this long with the release?

Among the countries listed above, Italy has 17 Apple Stores, Spain has 12, the Netherlands and Sweden each have 3, Switzerland has 4, Belgium and Austria each have 1 (in their biggest population centers in the country).

Typically, when Apple (or any other major tech company) launches a product in the European Union, they often follow a regional approach rather than negotiating with each country individually. The EU is a single market and Apple has a massive presence here and a very loyal user base. It is insane that it is taking them this long to start selling, honestly crazy. Also, the distribution hubs are in Netherlands and Ireland already anyway.
 
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Should be clear by now the launch has been essentially aborted worldwide.

Just look at the Apple U.S. front page. Not a peep. Apple uses space to promote stuff that sells, like iPad Air and Watch.

Also, EU consumers tend to be very price sensitive and highly regulatory. It's not just about population size or GDP.
 
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By the way, I noticed something interesting. I don’t see demo reservations beyond May 27 on the Apple Store app for different locations. I tried to get a demo today at the nearest store, but unfortunately, there’s no more availability for any future date. It’s a bit puzzling, but I also saw that the demo couches for the Vision Pro weren’t even used for demos. Maybe some stores are removing them because they’re not selling as well as expected.

Last time I went earlier in the month they still had people doing the demos
 
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JPack said:
Should be clear by now the launch has been essentially aborted worldwide.

Just look at the Apple U.S. front page. Not a peep. Apple uses space to promote stuff that sells, like iPad Air and Watch.

Also, EU consumers tend to be very price sensitive and highly regulatory. It's not just about population size or GDP.
Click to expand...
how does EU consumers being "highly regulatory" have anything to do with the AVP? Lol.

I already said, once it's out in Germany, it's literally fit to be sold everywhere else in the EU.
"Typically, when Apple (or any other major tech company) launches a product in the European Union, they often follow a regional approach rather than negotiating with each country individually. The EU is a single market"

The truth is that Apple is fumbling hard. There is no plan, there is no real strategy. They just f-ed up the sale of the device, and the marketing.

The "strategy" now is probably them waiting to push out a newer, cheaper device, that is also lighter, and call the original AVP a "prototype". The new AVP 2 or whatever it's called will almost certainly be sold globally at release.

I think they also don't want to push new EU markets, because they're afraid of low sales, which will be interpreted badly for the future of the device.
 
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dapa0s said:
how does EU consumers being "highly regulatory" have anything to do with the AVP? Lol.

I already said, once it's out in Germany, it's literally fit to be sold everywhere else in the EU.
"Typically, when Apple (or any other major tech company) launches a product in the European Union, they often follow a regional approach rather than negotiating with each country individually. The EU is a single market"

The truth is that Apple is fumbling hard. There is no plan, there is no real strategy. They just f-ed up the sale of the device, and the marketing.

The "strategy" now is probably them waiting to push out a newer, cheaper device, that is also lighter, and call the original AVP a "prototype". The new AVP 2 or whatever it's called will almost certainly be sold globally at release.

I think they also don't want to push new EU markets, because they're afraid of low sales, which will be interpreted badly for the future of the device.
Click to expand...

In reality, EU is not a single market. Just because you “said” something doesn’t make it true LOL.

EU sets the baseline. Individual countries can have different interpretations, levels of enforcement, or even stricter regulations. This can be related to safety, advertising, taxation, AI Act, etc.

For example:

- Spain has a legal guarantee of three years for consumer devices instead of the EU baseline of two
- Italian consumers are far outspoken about EMF, which affects perception of a wearable like AVP
- Austria has a 5% digital services tax, which affects the Vision App Store, preinstalled apps, etc.
 
JPack said:
In reality, EU is not a single market. Just because you “said” something doesn’t make it true LOL.

EU sets the baseline. Individual countries can have different interpretations, levels of enforcement, or even stricter regulations. This can be related to safety, advertising, taxation, AI Act, etc.

For example:

- Spain has a legal guarantee of three years for consumer devices instead of the EU baseline of two
- Italian consumers are far outspoken about EMF, which affects perception of a wearable like AVP
- Austria has a 5% digital services tax, which affects the Vision App Store, preinstalled apps, etc.
Click to expand...
That's like saying that the US is not a single market because sales tax varies by state.

Your chatgpt argument is not great lol. It is 100% due to them choosing not to sell it in more markets because they're afraid it will flop, which could then potentially affect the future of the product.
 
dapa0s said:
That's like saying that the US is not a single market because sales tax varies by state.

Your chatgpt argument is not great lol. It is 100% due to them choosing not to sell it in more markets because they're afraid it will flop, which could then potentially affect the future of the product.
Click to expand...

Nah, it’s nothing like that.

The US does not have two dozen official languages with two dozen types of enforcement and interpretations. There are 27 different “authorities” to enforce GDPR - one for each EU country. It’s minefield for Vision Pro since it has so many sensors to collect data.

Apple got hit with competition and consumer protection fines from Italy, France, and Netherlands. No US state temporarily banned ChatGPT like Italy did.

The EU sells itself as a unified market but in reality it’s highly fragmented and stagnant. There’s a reason why the EU is one of the most difficult places in the world to do business.
 
I could respond point by point, but it's not worth it. My post was not about random details on regulatory theory.

Again: Apple sells everything else across the EU, yet somehow the AVP isn't available in most countries, including ones with virtually identical rules, like Austria and Germany.

Obviously the delay isn't due to regulatory fragmentation, and definitely not to the extent you're saying, so it's pointless to derail the thread further in this direction.
 
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dapa0s said:
It is 100% due to them choosing not to sell it in more markets because they're afraid it will flop, which could then potentially affect the future of the product.
Click to expand...
If it will flop, then shouldn’t they not?
 
dapa0s said:
I could respond point by point, but it's not worth it. My post was not about random details on regulatory theory.

Again: Apple sells everything else across the EU, yet somehow the AVP isn't available in most countries, including ones with virtually identical rules, like Austria and Germany.

Obviously the delay isn't due to regulatory fragmentation, and definitely not to the extent you're saying, so it's pointless to derail the thread further in this direction.
Click to expand...
It doesn't, HomePods are not being sold in Poland.
 
It may be connected to Siri not available in native language, but am not sure.
As for the Apple Store we have only Online Apple Store in Poland, the physical stores are only authorized resellers
 
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I understand your frustration - I was annoyed having to wait here in the UK... at this point though, surely it's worth waiting for the next one? I certainly wouldn't buy one full price now.

FYI - I love it, use it every day, mainly for work purposes.
 
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dapa0s said:
That's like saying that the US is not a single market because sales tax varies by state.

Your chatgpt argument is not great lol. It is 100% due to them choosing not to sell it in more markets because they're afraid it will flop, which could then potentially affect the future of the product.
Click to expand...
what does flop even mean? selling anything like this at $3500 everyone knows its not gonna sell well, including them
 
dapa0s said:
It is 100% due to them choosing not to sell it in more markets because they're afraid it will flop,
Click to expand...
“The Vision Pro is not a mass-market product,” Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted, stating it’s an "early-adopter product for people who want tomorrow’s technology today." However, that technology comes at a cost—$3,500, pricing out the average consumer in a market where Meta’s Quest 3 retails at a fraction of the price.
this was taken from, https://applescoop.org/story/has-th...continued-what-we-know-so-far#google_vignette

I also read something like this about the AVP while back that it was not for the average consumer. The AVP is not a flop but a toe in the pool and I still want one lol.
 
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I suspect Apple knew AVP was going to be limited availability on the roll out. If I recall they were always vague about the roll out plan. It would have been bad press to say state otherwise.

My guess is they have been developing this thing since 2015 and it came to a point where they were not going to have any magical headset that would get mass adoption for many years beyond where we are at now tech wise so they pulled the trigger instead of having this thing sit for another 10 years. The demand for the AVP would be so terrible in other countries now there is no reason for them to try and roll the thing out everywhere until a second version is ready.
 
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AL2TEACH said:
“The Vision Pro is not a mass-market product,” Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted, stating it’s an "early-adopter product for people who want tomorrow’s technology today." However, that technology comes at a cost—$3,500, pricing out the average consumer in a market where Meta’s Quest 3 retails at a fraction of the price.
this was taken from, https://applescoop.org/story/has-th...continued-what-we-know-so-far#google_vignette

I also read something like this about the AVP while back that it was not for the average consumer. The AVP is not a flop but a toe in the pool and I still want one lol.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that he said that EIGHT months after release.

i.e. once it flopped, suddenly they changed the narrative.

It went from Vanity Fair cover piece to "actually, it's really expensive so it's not mass market right now"
 
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turbineseaplane said:
said that EIGHT months after release.
Click to expand...
True but I can recall the talk then and it was not meant for the "average" consumer, (if they wanted to buy then it's a plus) and they only intended to have so many devices. It was the chatter about the AVP that made it a "consumer" device that eh flopped. I still would like to have one :) and I think Apple accomplished what was intended for the AVP. The success or failure of the AVP was/is not built on consumer satisfaction, yet.
 
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