Hartley Charlton
Apple has dramatically cut production of its Vision Pro headset and may stop making the current version of the device entirely by the end of 2024, The Information reports.
Citing multiple people “directly involved” in producing components for the headset, the report says the production cuts began in early summer. That means Apple now has enough Vision Pro units in stock to meet demand for the remainder of the device's lifespan into next year.
Demand for the Vision Pro has been widely reported to be weak due to low inventory and high price. The Information reports that Vision Pro suppliers have already produced enough components for 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. Some factories stopped producing Vision Pro components back in May due to Apple’s weak sales forecasts, and warehouses are still filled with tens of thousands of unshipped parts.
Apple reportedly recently told Luxshare, the Chinese company that assembles the Vision Pro, that it may have to shut down production in November. Luxshare currently produces about 1,000 Vision Pro headsets per day, half of what it was producing at its peak. Apple will still be able to resume Vision Pro production if sales pick up, as the production lines are not expected to be dismantled yet.
What’s more, Apple has apparently paused work on the second-generation Vision Pro for at least a year to focus on developing a lower-cost headset. Interestingly, Apple has told suppliers to prepare to produce four million low-cost headsets over the life of the upcoming product. That's half the total number of Vision Pros that Apple has ordered suppliers to produce, suggesting that sales expectations are even lower for the cheaper headset.
While Apple's work on the second-generation Vision Pro appears to have stalled, there are some indications that the company may release “an incremental product refresh with limited changes to its physical design,” such as a chip refresh. This would allow Apple to use a significant number of redundant components in its supply chain.
Related review: Apple Vision ProTags: Luxshare, The InformationBuyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)Related forum: Apple Vision Pro[ 300 comments ]
