Apple Inc. may have ceased production of its first-generation Vision Pro headset after the product, which came to market in 2024, turned out to be a massive flop for the company.

Today’s claim comes from MacRumors, which cited reports in October that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current device by the end of the year. The scaling back of production reportedly began in the summer, with Apple having a sufficient number of Vision Pro units in its inventory to meet demand through 2025.

MacRumors also claims that Apple told Luxshare Precision Co. Ltd., the Chinese company that assembles the headset, that it would need to wind down production in November. The company is said to have been making about 1,000 Vision Pro headsets per day as of October, half of what was being produced at the peak of production.

Notably, the lines for the production have not been dismantled, giving Apple, so Luxshare can resume production should demand pick up. Given lackluster sales and lack of interest, the chances of that occurring are highly unlikely.

Apple announced the Vision Pro, its long waited and expected entry into the mixed reality space, in June 2023. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said at the time that “just as the Mac introduced us to personal computing and iPhone introduced us to mobile computing, Apple Vision Pro introduces us to spatial computing.”

Pre-orders for the device started in January and it finally went on sale in February with high hopes. Apple originally was hoping to sell 700,000 to 800,000 units in the first year and usually reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted that Apple could sell a half-million of the devices.

Instead, Apple only managed to sell 370,000 units in the first three quarters of the year and though the fourth-quarter figures are not yet in, projections had Apple selling a further 50,000 units to bring the year total to 420,000.

If Apple were a small company, those figures would have been solid, but it isn’t. By comparison, other Apple flagship devices have sold far, far better upon launching. The iPhone sold 1.39 million units in its first year, the iPad more than 15 million units, and the Apple Watch about 10 million units.

Though Apple has always charged premium prices for its hardware, the $3,499 price turned out to be a step too far for even dedicated Apple fanboys. Coupled with limited content offerings, there just wasn’t mass interest or appeal.

If the headset may have been a disappointment for Apple, the company isn’t set to give up the mixed-reality market as yet. Various reports are circulating about new versions possibly coming later this year or in 2026. The reports for Apple Vision Pro 2 include Appl developing a lower-cost version of the headset that would also sell alongside the more expensive model.

Photo: Apple