Trends
Apple Vision Pro sales fail: What went wrong?
On top of respecting and extending our human senses, we look forward to embracing a more advanced and interesting future.
Headline
On top of respecting and extending our human senses, we look forward to embracing a more advanced and interesting future.
Context
Not too long ago, a short video of Stanford students studying inside the school corridor using Apple’s Vision Pro product went viral on TikTok. The video showed many Stanford students in the crowd wearing very conspicuous VR equipment and pinching at the air – making it seem like a very cool, if creepy, and novel thing to do. Do you remember the moment when Apple launched its Vision Pro? Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset officially launched in the U.S. on February 2, 2024. All of a sudden everyone was talking about VR and the metaverse.
Evidence
Pending intelligence enrichment.
Analysis
But three months on, Vision Pro’s commercial track record isn’t so good——Apple has cut Vision Pro production due to low demand for the reality headset because of a sharp fall-off in demand in the US. Between 160,000 and 180,000 of the spatial computing devices were sold in preorders before the February launch. But sales quickly slowed after that early burst of interest and Apple now takes a “conservative view” of demand outside of the US. Apart from the obvious reason – the headset cost $3,600 – there seem to be several other reasons that led to this conceptually ideal and pioneering product facing Waterloo in terms of commercial sales. One of the fathers of communication, McLuhan proposed a famous theory: Medium is an extension of the human senses, implying that the form of a medium (such as television, radio, or the internet) embeds itself in the message it conveys, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two. In his opinion, each medium extends or enhances some aspect of human capability or sense. For instance, the printing press extends the reach of our eyes and hands, enabling us to communicate and access information across distances and time. Similarly, television extends the visual sense by bringing distant events and images into our living rooms, altering our perception of space and time.
Key Points
- Apple has cut Vision Pro production due to low demand for the $3,500 mixed reality headset in the US. Apple now expects Vision Pro shipments to decline year on year in 2025, prompting Apple to review and adjust its product roadmap; plans for a second Vision Pro in 2025 are now…
- Apple failed in its iPad Pro advertisement: The “Crush! ” commercial shows things like a piano, record player, paint, and other works flattening under the pressure of a hydraulic press, causing a lot of criticism.
- One of the fathers of communication, McLuhan developed the theory that the medium is an extension of the human senses. This theory of communication can also be applied to advertising strategies for products such as VR. We can’t help wonder where are the limits of our imagination…
Actions
Pending intelligence enrichment.
