Taiwanese research firm TrendForce reports Apple’s mixed-reality headset will be primarily targeted at developers and could see shipments of fewer than 100,000 units in 2023.
TrendForce says the headset’s high cost, manufacturing difficulties, and focus on developers will “restrict sales predominantly to pre-orders for this year.”
While Apple’s headset could bring about some new demand in the AR/VR product category, shipment estimates are projected to fall short of 100,000 units, with total production potentially capped at 300,000 units.
The high price tag of the device (around $3,000), will likely pose a significant barrier to broader market growth.
Initially, Apple is believed to have told its suppliers to expect sales of seven million to 10 million units in its first year of sales. That estimation was later downgraded to three million units, says the report.
The expected sales number continued to fall, as in August of last year, Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was planning to ship 1.5 million or fewer units in 2023. Recently, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stated that Apple now expects to sell approximately 900,000 headsets this year. However, in December, Kuo again revised his estimate, saying Apple would ship “less than 500,000 units.”