Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

gizmodo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 223 posts

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#111

Post by adastra22 »

crazygringo wrote: post #103
crooked-v wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a combination of two things: there's not enough users, and the device just isn't comfortable enough for that niche of ultra-enthusiast users to use it for extended periods. Apple really shot themselves in the foot here with the headstrap design and by weighing it down with the metal and glass housing. Even the "good" strap is unbalanced and uncomfortable and so practical for very little but consuming content in…

> practical for very little but consuming content in a reclined position. You can create content in a recline position too. It's utterly fantastic, actually, if you just have a little tray in your lap for a wireless keyboard, and a mouse on a table on your armrest. I really think the future of VR is mostly in a reclined position, actually -- headset weight becomes a non-issue, and it just avoids developing postural p…

That just sounds so utterly dystopian that I would never want to be part of it.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#112

Post by rafaelmn »

bee_rider wrote: post #84
autoexecbat wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd happily buy one for $500, but $3500 is way too much

It seems like a developer tool for building VR apps, which could make sense if they were planning on making a $500 device later. But, absent clear plans there, I can’t really see why anyone would buy it. OTOH they wouldn’t sell any at all to consumers if they announced there was a sensibly priced one planned for the future.

Apple is the last company I want a VR headset from.

Like I'd buy iPad instantly if it could run a real OS (like a surface pro) - but Apple loves the app store margins soo much they will fight tooth and nail too keep you locked in, at heavy expense of capability.

Likewise for Apple vision pro :

  - productivity - only if it fits the store model
  - entertainmen - only if daddy Apple approves
  - hackability - no way
MacOS devices are a legacy from a different era in Apple business model - they would not build such devices today - and are not really expanding the range. iPhone I can live with the lockdown for the integration between MacOS, likewise for accessories (even here I might switch due to the taste their ecosystem business leaves in mouth).

But VR and iPad are things where I want fully capable/hackable environments - that's not going to happen with Apple App Store business model.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#113

Post by HumblyTossed »

epistasis wrote: post #49
Sir_Twist wrote: post #35

I wonder whether the behavior Apple has exhibited around their developer relations (especially their EU / notorization related troubles) has had a chilling effect on people's willingness to support a new platform like this. Without the raw number of users that something like the iPhone has, does Apple make it worthwhile to create apps / games for their platforms? I'm not a developer, so maybe there is a more technica…

I doubt developer relations have anything to do with this at all. There's no users, no plan to scale to lots of users, and therefore no developers. It might be partially because of the size of the VR/AR market, but Apple's approach with Vision Pro was never to try to capture all of it. It seemed mostly to gain experience in manufacturing and start to see if anything actually materialized. In many ways it's a very ant…

> It might be partially because of the size of the VR/AR market, but Apple's approach with Vision Pro was never to try to capture all of it. It seemed mostly to gain experience in manufacturing and start to see if anything actually materialized.

Did they say this, because otherwise I'm calling ... you know what.

This is a failed product by Apple.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#114

Post by GeekyBear »

LordKeren wrote: post #7

While I think this was largely expected from everyone following AVP, it will be very interesting to see how Apple attempts to salvage this project. They’ve really backed themselves in to a corner with the pricing of their headset far exceeding what all but the most enamored enthusiasts are willing to stomach. On top of that, the sales are so bad that it is not worth companies of nearly any size to dedicate time to cr…

> Apple is probably going to have to light a gigantic stack of cash on fire to try to course correct this.

It would certainly cost an absolute fortune to acquire the streamung rights, but live sports is an area where fans have demonstrated that they are willing to spend a fortune on AV equipment and subscription fees.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#115

Post by adastra22 »

lagniappe wrote: post #91
dawnerd wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I returned mine. It was amazing, but very uncomfortable like all other VR head units. I spent an entire workday in it. The next day got half way through the day before getting a massive headache. My neck was sore for a week following. Apple store employees said I wasn't the only one. They need to focus on weight, them making it have the glass front+screen and being made of metal was a terrible idea.

>My neck was sore for a week following. neither here nor there, and I know you didn't ask, but from one tech worker to another, this isn't normal and unless you had some condition before you should be addressing this with exercise.

How old are you? Once you get of a certain age, doing anything new or different to your body leaves it aching for a week.

You’re right that you address it with exercise though.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#116

Post by crazygringo »

adastra22 wrote: post #111
crazygringo wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> practical for very little but consuming content in a reclined position. You can create content in a recline position too. It's utterly fantastic, actually, if you just have a little tray in your lap for a wireless keyboard, and a mouse on a table on your armrest. I really think the future of VR is mostly in a reclined position, actually -- headset weight becomes a non-issue, and it just avoids developing postural p…

That just sounds so utterly dystopian that I would never want to be part of it.

If you have lower back pain from sitting in a chair with bad posture for decades, it's a godsend.

When you're "in the zone" programming on a screen or writing a book or editing a movie, it's not like you're particularly aware of your environment anyways. And like I said -- not building up the lower back problems that will haunt you later in life.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#117

Post by lancesells »

supernova87a wrote: post #30
zengid wrote: post #10

What if Zuck made the Meta Quest Pro as a psy-op to get Apple to make a pro headset and waste resources, simply to get back at them for clamping down on user tracking?

Hah, if that's true, they both got burned to the tune of $5B each, I'm sure. So not much payback achieved. And inside the company, everyone can see that it's an embarrassing loss of interest from MZ after 2 years of urgent enthusiasm that didn't pan out. On to LLMs now!

Meta is also a company with little to no business in entertainment or content creation. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Epic, Valve, etc. have a better chance of making a metaverse happen than whatever Meta is trying to buy their way into.

Meta's entire business doesn't exist without it's user's giving them content. They are so far away from a creative company.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#118

Post by taeric »

wrsh07 wrote: post #51
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #23

"...analysts have noted that many who bought one were confused by its more complicated setup and what they were supposed to use it for in their daily lives." There's the root of the problem right there. Apple's best successes had a very clear purpose in mind from the beginning: - iPod: 1,000 songs in your pocket - iPhone: A phone, an internet communicator, an iPod - iPad: Media consumption AVP didn't have a clear pur…

I'm not sure that's right. Apple launched the watch thinking "apps like iphone" A few versions in, they settled on "watches are for health and fitness" Ben Thompson discusses the AVP as an immersive iPad, and that's kind of the problem. It's too locked down to be my productivity device (something that could justifiably command a premium price), and my entertainment budget isn't that high for one person (I already hav…

The watch is a bit odd, though? It is, far and away, more of a fashion purchase than it is anything else.

Yes, I think it has some good uses for health/fitness. I can't bring myself to think it is the driver for people buying it.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#119

Post by renewiltord »

Sir_Twist wrote: post #35

I wonder whether the behavior Apple has exhibited around their developer relations (especially their EU / notorization related troubles) has had a chilling effect on people's willingness to support a new platform like this. Without the raw number of users that something like the iPhone has, does Apple make it worthwhile to create apps / games for their platforms? I'm not a developer, so maybe there is a more technica…

Nah, people aren’t religious. It’s just not a large enough platform. Too niche and it looks like they’ve given up on it.

Re: Apple Vision Pro U.S. Sales Are All but Dead, Market Analysts Say

#120

Post by afavour »

schmidtleonard wrote: post #104
jonwinstanley wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Revisit this stat in a couple of years once we are all talking about Vision Pro v3? This product is going to take a while to a) get good and b) go mainstream

"It's a dev kit for those willing to spend on early access to Apple's AR/VR ecosystem" was always the sane take, it was really weird watching so many people convince themselves that it was a mass-market product and then convince themselves that the failure of a mass-market audience to materialize was some kind of a disaster. I have no visibility inside Apple so I don't know if they drank their own kool-aid on this on…

> it was really weird watching so many people convince themselves that it was a mass-market product and then convince themselves that the failure of a mass-market audience to materialize was some kind of a disaster.

They were presumably following Apple’s lead. Apple predicted far higher sales than we’ve seen and have had to cut those predictions down to size.

Post reply on HN