Apple Mixed-Reality Headset Shipments Now Estimated to 'Fall Short of 100,000 Units' This Year

Apple's mixed-reality headset will be primarily targeted at developers and could now see shipments of fewer than 100,000 units this year, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce reports.

apple headset in box render marcus kaneApple headset concept by Marcus Kane

TrendForce claims that the headset's high cost, difficulty to manufacture, and focus on developers will "restrict sales predominantly to pre-orders for this year." While Apple's headset could stimulate some new demand in the AR/VR product category, the high price tag of the device, believed to be in the ballpark of ~$3,000, will apparently pose a significant barrier to broader market growth.

Trendforce forecasts that shipments of the new headset will now "fall short" of 100,000 units this year, with Apple potentially capping production at no more than 300,000 units.

In January 2022, Apple was believed to have told its suppliers to expect sales of seven million to 10 million units during its first year on sale. This expectation was then seemingly downgraded to three million units.

In August last year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple was planning to ship no more than 1.5 million units in 2023. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said that Apple now expects to sell around 900,000 headsets this year. In December last year, Kuo revised his estimate down to "less than 500,000 units."

Gurman has also postulated that Apple may sell only one headset per day per retail store, which would equate to annual sales of just over 180,000 units. TrendForce's estimate of less than 100,000 units is the lowest shipment estimate for Apple's headset to date.

Related Roundup: Apple Vision Pro
Buyer's Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Vision Pro

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

appleguy123 Avatar
21 months ago
So you’re saying I should buy one, leave it unopened and sell it to a rich idiot in 15 years?
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kiranmk2 Avatar
21 months ago
Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Armada2 Avatar
21 months ago

Not sure what the business case is here. If this is aimed at developers, who are they developing for? Why would anyone build apps for this thing when consumer take-up is likely to be poor.
This product is aimed at Devs to create for Youtubers to spam our eyes and state why the product is so good and why our whole family and pet dog needs it ?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dantracht Avatar
21 months ago
It’s supposed to be THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Are they really surprised?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
21 months ago
This device sounds very 90s Apple if that makes sense, I guess the difference here is that they can afford this kind of product now.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
21 months ago

So you’re saying I should buy one, leave it unopened and sell it to a rich idiot in 15 years?
For ROI: You are better off holding on to the Sealed Apple Polishing Cloth. I think that will be worth more. ?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)