Apple has already sold out its initial stock of Vision Pro headsets after customers bought around 200,000 units during the 10 days since the iPhone maker made them available for pre-orders, according to a report.
A source said to have knowledge of the situation told the Apple-centric news site MacRumors that the company began accepting pre-orders for the $3,500 virtual reality helmet from US-based customers on Jan. 19.
The headset is scheduled to be available for purchase in company retail locations on Friday.
The Post has sought comment from Apple.
Min-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who is considered an expert in Apple’s supply chain, had previously estimated that the firm sold between 160,000 and 180,000 Vision Pro headsets based on pre-order inventory.
Kuo wrote in a blog post that he thought the Vision Pro would remain a “niche product” that would be in high demand among Apple’s die-hard core customers.
Apple says the goggles’ operating system will be compatible with more than 1 million apps designed for the iPhone and iPad.
Although pre-orders began more than 10 days ago, buyers will have to go to a store to be properly fitted for the goggles, which are controlled with the eyes and a few simple hand gestures.
Although Facebook owner Meta Platforms and other companies have been making virtual reality headsets for years with limited success, many industry analysts believe Apple has the potential to expand the technology’s audience beyond the video gamers and mostly tech nerds that have embraced it so far.
The Vision Pro already has gotten largely enthusiastic reviews among the media who were able to test it in tightly controlled demonstrations monitored by Apple, but the device’s price tag probably means relatively few unit sales during its first year on the market.
Even so, Apple’s first new product since its smartwatch debut a decade ago could set the stage for the introduction of more affordable versions for a broader audience.
Right now, the Vision Pro will cost seven times more than Meta’s latest virtual-reality headset, the Quest 3.
In a sign that Apple is expecting the Vision Pro to pave the way to a bigger market, the company included the ability to take 3-D videos that can be viewed through the goggles on its its latest premium iPhones, the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max.
These videos are so realistic that the people and other images in them appear to be right in front of the viewer watching them.
Apple is looking for ways to juice its sales after suffering a slight decline in revenue during its last fiscal year ending in in September.
Apple still raked in $383 billion in sales, with the iPhone accounting for more than half that amount.
With Post Wires
This story originally appeared on NYPost
