Apple’s Vision Pro to hit markets in late January: Apple analyst

Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s highly anticipated flagship Vision Pro VR headset is currently under mass production and expected to hit the market in late January or early February 2024, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, a highly trusted Apple analyst.

Image credit: Apple

Initially announced with a broad ‘early-2024’ release timeline during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June, Apple's highly awaited VR headset now has a more defined launch window. Kuo further suggested that Apple is preparing to receive an initial shipment of Vision Pro units within approximately a month, with an anticipated total shipment volume of 500,000 units for the entire year.

Despite the narrowing release window, Apple's specific annual target for the Vision Pro headset remains ambiguous. Earlier indications shared about a month subsequent to the product's unveiling, hinted at a reduction in Apple's shipment expectations from an initial projection of around one million units to a figure below 400,000 units.

Testing waters 

Notably, Apple’s order of 500,000 units lot for a product with this much buzz might seem modest when seen from the perspective of its extensive scale and market influence. We can have an idea of Apple’s shipment scale when comparing this order with its 200 million iPhone orders in the current calendar year. 

Image credit: Apple

However, Apple will be testing the waters with this limited supply of Vision Pro due to the first-of-its-kind foray into the VR industry which is heavily dominated by Meta. Termed as one of the most significant ventures during Tim Cook's 12-year tenure as CEO, the Vision Pro headset is going to enter the market with a premium pricing, even by Apple's standards. 

Kuo in his Medium blog has labelled Vision Pro as ‘Apple's most crucial product of 2024’ as its success has the potential to solve the VR’s market puzzle. 

“If users respond to Vision Pro better than expected, it will strengthen the market consensus that ‘Vision Pro is the next consumer electronics star’ and the related supply chain stock price,” Kuo writes.