The Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional blended actuality headset has had one thing of a tough experience since its launch. Whereas the engineering concerned is spectacular, the $3,499 price ticket together with some early adopter woes appears to have taken a few of the shine off of a tool that Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner described as “the start of a brand new period for computing”.
Apple’s most up-to-date earnings name makes slim point out of the headset, as a substitute focussing on total income, a good bit of AI and machine-learning doublespeak, and gross sales of iPads, Macbooks and iPhones. Nonetheless, we did glean a bit tidbit of data from Tim Prepare dinner’s introductory remarks, as he revealed that “greater than half of the Fortune 100 corporations have already purchased Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional models, and are exploring progressive methods to make use of it to do issues that weren’t attainable earlier than”, earlier than transferring on to different subjects.
The reveal that a few of the world’s top-performing corporations purchased at the very least one of many new headsets is not stunning, given {that a} substantial variety of them are tech {industry} or tech industry-adjacent companies that seemingly needed a search for themselves at Apple’s newest doohickey.
In spite of everything, given Apple’s place because the top-performing expertise firm within the 2023 checklist, any large launch in a brand new phase of the market was seemingly value a punt, significantly as Apple went large on the gross sales pitch, calling the Imaginative and prescient Professional “a revolutionary spatial pc that seamlessly blends digital content material with the bodily world whereas permitting customers to remain current and related to others”.
Whereas some corporations could have determined to select up just a few for testing, in relation to Imaginative and prescient Professional gross sales total, issues do not look totally rosy. Current reviews have urged that Apple had slashed manufacturing volumes in half earlier than the headset even went on sale exterior of US markets, which means that US demand was a lot decrease than anticipated.
Whereas the astronomical price ticket is more likely to be a limiting issue as to how many individuals can afford one, it isn’t just like the Imaginative and prescient Professional garnered totally constructive opinions. Many identified the load and hulking nature of the machine, whereas others skilled inconsistent function implementation and emotions of isolation.
Whereas any “revolutionary” new product launch is more likely to have some teething points, Apple’s seeming reluctance to debate gross sales income concerning the Imaginative and prescient Professional is telling. It would not seem to be it has been a house run to date for gross sales of the VR/AR headset even when some corporations purchased in on just a few models, though time will inform if this finally ends up being a gradual early adoption difficulty, or doubtlessly the brand new USB “Hockey Puck Mouse” of unloved Apple units.
