The official release of Apple’s AR headset will be a rocky one, assuming its updated shipment estimates are to be believed. Earlier, the device was said to ship around one million units for 2023, and even then, it was called a dud. With the latest figures, one will likely develop a pessimistic opinion of the headset.
New shipment estimates paint a dark picture; Apple to ship between only 200,000 - 300,000 AR headset units in the year
Even though Apple has commented numerous times that it is fully committed to the future of augmented reality, it does not look like the market is ready to embrace such a product. According to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the AR headset is said to ship between 200,000 - 300,000 units for the remainder of the year. These estimates are down from the previous figure, which was 500,000.
However, Kuo’s shipments assessment was already lower than what Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman predicted, which was one million units shipped in 2023. In fact, Display Supply Chain Consultants founder and CEO Ross Young even said that one million shipments of the AR headset were too high, implying that the device would not be as successful. Unfortunately, the analyst did not provide an exact figure, so we cannot comment much on Young’s predictions.
As for Kuo, the reason why he estimated a lower shipment estimate is because the AR headset is said to have been delayed again. A previous report stated that the head-mounted wearable was supposed to be announced at this year’s WWDC keynote, but just like before, Apple has probably run into more problems, which is not surprising to hear, as this has been the case with the product for multiple few years now.
Even the design team warned Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams that the headset was not ready for a launch, but both executives reportedly went against the team’s recommendations and could end up paying for their hasty decision. Looking at Kuo’s estimates, along with that upper pricing of $4,000, the AR headset could only generate up to $1.2 billion. Sure, it is a decent chunk of change, but Apple’s previous product launches show that the headset would be the least successful of them all, and by a significant margin.
Thankfully, the ‘Reality Pro,’ which is said to be the official name of Apple’s first AR headset, has a successor lined up, and it is reported to be cheaper than its predecessor, but an estimated price was not provided. Assuming the technology giant can lower the cost of the product to around $1,000 in the next few years, the mixed-reality headset could grow in popularity amongst consumers.
Written by Omar Sohail
Refference- https://wccftech.com
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