Vision Pro reaches expected production target as Apple shifts supply chain focus

Apple is adjusting its supply chain production of Apple Vision Pro, according to a new report from The Information. The report details that Apple “has enough inventory built up to meet demand for the foreseeable future.”

Apple’s suppliers have reportedly made “enough components for roughly 600,000 headsets,” which is in line with the initial estimates for 2024 shipments.

The Information reports that Apple recently told assembly partner Luxshare that it “might need to wind down” manufacturing for Apple Vision Pro in November.

Currently, Luxshare is “making around 1,000 Vision Pro units a day, down from a peak of around 2,000 units a day.” In total, it has assembled “between 500,000 and 600,000 headsets since production began last year.”

One of the employees cited by the report says that their factory “suspended production of Vision Pro components in May based on Apple’s weak forecasts, and their warehouse remains filled with tens of thousands of undelivered parts.”

As previously reported, Apple has slowed down its work on a more dramatic refresh for Apple Vision Pro. Instead, the company is focused on releasing a cheaper version of the headset as soon as next year. Ming-Chi Kuo has reported that Apple is still aiming to release a spec-bump for Vision Pro in 2025, upgrading the device to an M5 chip with support for Apple Intelligence.

Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed Vision Pro’s first year on the market in an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week.

“I’d always like to sell more of everything, because ultimately, we want our products to be in as many people’s hands as possible. And so obviously I’d like to sell more,” he said. “Over time, everything gets better, and it too will have its course of getting better and better. I think it’s just arguably a success today from an ecosystem-being-built-out point of view.”

“At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product,” he continued. “Right now, it’s an early-adopter product. People who want to have tomorrow’s technology today—that’s who it’s for. Fortunately, there’s enough people who are in that camp that it’s exciting.”

9to5Mac’s Take

The numbers reported by The Information are in line with previously-reported estimates for Apple Vision Pro’s first year production.

Last July, The Financial Times reported that Apple would make around 400,000 Vision Pro headsets in 2024. The report suggested that production was limited by manufacturing issues arising from the headset’s complex design. Yields for Vision Pro’s 4K micro-OLED displays, one for each eye, have also been a limiting factor.

In December 2023, Ming-Chi Kuo estimated that Vision Pro shipments would be around 500,000 units in 2024. Counterpoint Research data cited by today’s report from The Information suggests sales have been slightly under those numbers:

Counterpoint Research said Apple sold around 370,000 headsets in the first three quarters of this year and estimates that it will only sell around 50,000 more units by year end.

To me, The Information report is hyperbolic, headlined “Apple Sharply Scales Back Production of Vision Pro.”

If Apple forecasted 400,000-500,000 sales for Vision Pro in the first year and has manufactured 600,000 units so far, then it makes sense to slow down production. In 2025, it can sell the Vision Pro inventory it has already produced, focus on the M5 upgrade for the end of the year, and continue work on the lower-end version.