On June 28th, Apple's first head mounted MR display product, the Apple Vision Pro, was launched in the Chinese market with a starting price of 29999 yuan. The reporter found on Apple's official website that not all consumers can pre order the Apple Vision Pro, and currently only Apple iPhone or iPad users can pre order it. In other words, Android users are currently unable to pre order Apple Vision Pro online.
At around 9:00 am on June 28th, a reporter from China Securities News visited the Apple Store retail store in Nanshan, Shenzhen as a consumer to conduct an on-site investigation. The reporter saw that some consumers are already experiencing Apple's latest product. The staff stated that the store's Apple Vision Pro can be experienced by 8 consumers simultaneously, with each consumer able to experience it for half an hour at a time. Today, the experience quota is fully booked.
However, some institutions believe that Apple Vision Pro is still a niche product and lacks "killer" applications.
Future or affordable version
A consumer who has experienced Apple Vision Pro stated that the product has a strong sense of immersion, with sensitive photo and visual effects, as well as gesture interaction functions. But the product is heavy, and wearing it for a long time can cause discomfort. In addition, there are relatively few product applications.
Apple released its first hybrid reality MR device, Vision Pro, in June 2023. MR stands for Mixed Reality and is a component of the XR (Extended Reality) terminal. Compared to VR (Virtual Reality), MR further integrates virtual and real environments by incorporating various virtual objects and images in the context of the real environment.
This MR product is Apple's first space computing device. At that time, Apple CEO Cook said, "Just as Mac brought us into the era of personal computing and iPhone brought us into the era of mobile computing, then Apple Vision Pro will take us into the era of spatial computing."
On June 11th, at the Apple Developer Conference, Apple announced that it already has over 2000 apps on its Apple Vision Pro. In addition, Apple Vision Pro's Vision OS 2 has been released, which uses robot learning to create spatial and 3D images, and adds interactive gesture functionality.
Market research firm Counterpoint believes that pricing indicates that Vision Pro is not aimed at ordinary consumers, but rather at professional users and content developers.
According to a research report by Donghai Securities, the high pricing of Vision Pro means that its first users will mainly be audiophiles and app developers, rather than the general public. Its purpose is to anchor the MR software and hardware standards through the first MR product, attract developers from the Apple ecosystem to join and cultivate the Vision OS software ecosystem, and launch affordable second-generation products when the time is ripe, thereby attracting consumers.
According to a research report by Guotai Junan Securities, Apple may adjust its Vision Pro product strategy and launch a budget headset. Considering the current issues of insufficient consumer feedback, poor wearing comfort, and limited usage scenarios, Apple's strategic adjustment will help reshape the development direction of the entire mixed reality industry.
Expected sales decrease
Jibang Consulting believes that the Apple Vision Pro is an important layout for Apple to expand the headphone market and also enter the VR/AR market through this product. It is expected that the shipment volume of Vision Pro will reach 500000 to 600000 units in 2024.
According to Wu Yanjing, an analyst at Bank of China Securities, Apple had previously predicted that Vision Pro sales would reach 800000 units in 2024. However, due to multiple factors, the demand for Vision Pro exceeded expectations during its initial release, leading to a continuous decline in demand growth. As a result, the company has recently lowered its sales forecast by nearly 50%.
Wu Yanjing believes that the limited sales of Vision Pro in the United States are mainly due to three reasons: firstly, limited applications designed specifically for Vision Pro, resulting in a decline in user interest; Secondly, compared to similar devices such as Meta Quest2, the price of Vision Pro is too high; Thirdly, Vision Pro faces issues such as battery pack endurance and wearing comfort caused by excessive weight.
Wu Yanjing believes that the introduction of Tencent's application to the Chinese version of Vision Pro is expected to reduce the difficulty of its sales in China, and it is expected that the initial sales growth rate will be stable. In the short term, the global release of Vision Pro may still face similar challenges as the US region; However, in the long run, the ecosystem of Vision Pro applications is expected to continue to be optimized, breaking through current demand bottlenecks, boosting replacement demand, and accelerating the XR industry; In addition, Vision Pro is equipped with M2 chip and NPU16 core, which can achieve 15.8 trillion operations per second. Apple's self-developed chips and processors will benefit related supply chains and channel service providers.
According to a research report by Changjiang Securities, with the entry of Vision Pro into the Chinese market, the MR ecosystem is expected to further prosper and develop, and the growth potential of the MR market is optimistic.
