Apple’s getting ready to spread the word about its Vision Pro headset worldwide, hoping to see if its $3,499 price tag can catch on in markets beyond the US.
They’ve been holding training sessions lately in Cupertino, California, bringing in hundreds of their international store employees. These sessions, which last up to four days, are all about teaching staff how to show off the device to potential customers. People in the know split the beans on this, but they wanted to stay anonymous.
The Vision Pro, which mixes virtual stuff with the real world around you, is a big deal for Apple. It’s their CEO Tim Cook’s big bet on the future of tech, what he calls the era of spatial computing. But even though it’s cool, it’s still seen as a bit niche because it’s expensive and there aren’t a ton of must-have apps for it yet.
Now, Apple wants to see if they can make it more popular worldwide. They’re planning to start selling the Vision Pro in other countries after their big developers conference next month. They’re keeping things hush-hush, but it looks like Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and China might be among the first to get their hands on it.
The company previously mentioned its plans to release the Vision Pro outside the US later this year, with Tim Cook specifically noting its arrival in China by 2024.
The training sessions being held now are reminiscent of those that took place in Cupertino before the Vision Pro hit the US market in early February. When customers visit an Apple Store to test the device, they’re treated to a roughly 20-minute rundown of its features.
Although the headset initially generated a lot of buzz in the US, demand has since tapered off. Bloomberg News reported that some retail stores are now only selling a couple of units per week, at most. Additionally, the number of demo appointments has significantly decreased, with some customers booking demos but not showing up.
While overseas customers initially sought out the Vision Pro through unofficial resellers, demand has softened, particularly in places like Hong Kong, where the device is being resold below its retail price.
To counteract this trend, Apple has been ramping up the promotion of the Vision Pro on its website and analysing customer feedback post-demos to understand why some may be hesitant to purchase. In other news, the marketing chief for Vision Pro retired last month, although this appears to be unrelated to recent market dynamics.
