Apple Slashes Vision Pro Production Plans
Recent reports have emerged, suggesting that Apple is reducing its production plans for the Vision Pro device. The hardware and manufacturing partners of Apple are reportedly cutting their forecasts for the assembly of Vision Pro devices.
Luxshare Precision Industry Co, Apple’s overseas manufacturing partner, was initially set to assemble 1 million units of the Vision Pro. However, Luxshare has now reduced its production forecast to only 400,000 units. The company had also internally expected to produce 18 million units annually in the future, indicating a significant reduction in expectations.
Moreover, two of Apple’s component manufacturing partners are also lowering their expectations. Apple is reportedly requesting enough components to produce approximately 130,000 to 150,000 units.
According to sources, Apple is facing difficulties in production due to the complexity of manufacturing the device’s micro-LED and curved, outward-facing lens. Apple has expressed dissatisfaction with its suppliers, Sony and TSMC, around the time of WWDC 2023.
In addition to production hurdles, the price of the Vision Pro has also raised concerns. A bill of materials analysis conducted by Wellsenn XR revealed that the materials used in the device cost around $1,590, less than half of the device’s price of $3,499. This discovery has led to some dismay from audiences and may have contributed to a reduction in shipment forecasts.
Despite these challenges, Apple is working with various industry partners to ensure the success of the Vision Pro. Long-time partner Luxshare is facilitating the reduced production plans, and Apple is collaborating with 11 Taiwanese firms, including Largan Precision Co, Genius Electronic Optical Co, GIS-KY, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, to deploy the Vision Pro.
Apple is also partnering with major industry suppliers such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, and Sony for the launch of the Vision Pro.
The Vision Pro is expected to be released in 2024 as a costly and enterprise-grade device. Apple is actively working on creating a robust immersive framework that supports various use cases. The device leverages spatial computing to create a 360 immersive environment and supports hand-tracking native XR applications.
Apple has also partnered with Unity to distribute developer tools and resources for content creation on the platform. Unity’s flexibility allows for easy porting of immersive applications to the VisionOS.
The Vision Pro features a custom M2 Silicon chip, Apple’s purpose-built R1 graphics processor, micro-OLED lenses with a total display resolution of 4096 x 5464 pixels, high-dynamic range (HDR), wide color gamut (WCG) outputs, and other competitive features.
While production challenges and price concerns may impact the Vision Pro’s success, Apple remains committed to delivering a top-quality immersive device to the market.
