Famous Apple whistleblower Mark Gurman revealed on Monday that Apple is preparing to sell the Vision Pro headset device in countries and regions outside the United States to boost the shipment volume of this product.
Gurman said that Apple has shipped hundreds of retail store employees from around the world to Cupertino, California to attend a 4-day Vision Pro training course and teach them how to demonstrate this $3500 device to customers. It is reported that the training course started last week.
Gurman claimed that Apple plans to promote Vision Pro to the international market after the World Developers Conference (WWDC 24) held from June 10th to June 14th. Apple analyst Guo Minggui previously believed that Vision Pro would be launched in more countries before WWDC 24.
It is reported that employees from retail stores in China, Germany, Australia, France, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are attending training courses, indicating that these countries are likely to be the first international markets to launch Vision Pro after the United States.
Vision Pro was released on WWDC in June last year, but it was not released in the US market until February 2 this year and is currently only available for sale in the US market. Cook, CEO of Apple, said in March that Vision Pro would enter the Chinese Mainland market this year.
Vision Pro is also one of Apple's most resource intensive products in recent years. It combines the real world and virtual content organically, bringing a lot of convenience to people's lives and work. Cook said it opened up the era of spatial computing.
At a time when sales of Apple's most popular product, the iPhone, are slowing down, the launch of this headset device in the international market may help Apple attract more customers.
Demand cooling
But according to previous reports, unlike the frenzy of crowds at Apple stores in early February, many Apple retail stores have now gone from selling several Vision Pro units a day to not selling a few units a week.
Analysts say that demand for the expensive Vision Pro has been slowing down since the initial enthusiasm for it passed. The high price and lack of eye-catching applications of Vision Pro have made it a niche product.
Overseas customers can obtain Vision Pro through unofficial distributors, and the initial demand through these channels was very strong, only at a premium can they buy it. But currently in many parts of the world, consumers see this electronic product being resold at a price lower than the official retail price.
Apple has been working hard to reverse the trend of declining demand, increasing efforts to promote Vision Pro on its website, and asking employees after the demonstration to determine the reasons why customers choose not to purchase the device.
When Apple released its first quarter results, it did not specify the performance of Vision Pro so far, but the sales of the company's business unit responsible for this device decreased by 10%.
Gurman predicts that global sales may boost the sales of Vision Pro, with the Chinese and Japanese markets being the most anticipated. Consumers in these countries have shown a strong interest in virtual reality, which is also one of the core features of the device, but the high price of this product may still be a major obstacle.
Vision Pro 2
Gurman stated at the end of last month that the release of the next generation Vision Pro may be delayed until the end of 2026, but Apple must find ways to reduce costs before launching the second generation product.
Apple's latest Vision Pro roadmap currently does not set a release date for the second generation model before the end of 2026. The company is working hard to find a way to launch a cheaper version, but Apple is still confused about how to reduce costs.
Gurman stated on Monday that in June this year, Apple will release the second version of the visionOS operating system for Vision Pro, and Vision Pro's performance may be further improved at that time.
Another source reported that Vision Pro 2 will be released in 2026, with an expected retail price between $1500 and $2500, which may drive sales of this product.