Briefly: Apple opened pre-orders for its Imaginative and prescient Professional blended actuality headset over the weekend forward of the official February 2 US launch date. In keeping with estimates from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the corporate offered between 160,000 and 180,000 units throughout the 2 days. And whereas that may sound like excellent news for Cupertino, it comes with a caveat.
Kuo beforehand predicted that Apple would produce 60,000 to 80,000 Imaginative and prescient Professional items for the launch day. Writing on Medium, the famed analyst says the headset offered out quickly after the pre-order course of opened, and that delivery occasions for all three fashions, which supply 256GB ($3,500), 512GB ($3,699), and 1TB ($3,899) of storage, elevated from 5 weeks to seven weeks.
Whereas that appears like excellent news for Apple, Kuo famous that these delivery occasions remained unchanged after 48 hours, which may point out that orders dropped significantly after the hardcore Apple followers made their purchases. He famous that ongoing demand for brand new iPhones means the handsets normally see a gentle enhance in delivery occasions 24 to 48 hours after pre-orders open.
Kuo famous that given Apple has 1.2 billion lively customers, the corporate understands that the Imaginative and prescient Professional is a really area of interest product. The headset is simply launching within the US at first, with the worldwide rollout coming later within the 12 months, presumably throughout June, earlier than WWDC.
In keeping with Bloomberg, analysts count on Apple to ship 300,000 to 400,000 Imaginative and prescient Professional items this 12 months, producing as a lot as $1.4 billion in income. That is some huge cash, however not for a corporation that introduced in $383 billion in gross sales final 12 months.
It was just lately confirmed that just like the processors present in Apple’s laptops and tablets, the Imaginative and prescient Professional’s M2 SoC options an 8-core CPU (4 efficiency and 4 effectivity cores), a 10-core GPU, and a 16-core Neural Engine. It additionally helps 90Hz, 96Hz, and 100Hz refresh charges. Take a look at the complete specs right here.
The truth that the Imaginative and prescient Professional will not have a devoted Netflix, YouTube or Spotify app could deter folks from spending $3,500 or extra on one of many headsets. However Cupertino will in all probability hope the free, 25-minute demos obtainable in Apple shops will assist persuade prospects at hand over their cash.
