Apple Fans Line Up To Spend $3,499 On The Vision Pro Headset

(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. faithful lined up at its US stores on Friday to pick up the first Vision Pro headsets, ushering in what the company calls “the era of spatial computing.” 

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook appeared at Apple’s flagship Manhattan store on Fifth Avenue to commemorate the launch, greeting modest crowds. At the company’s location at the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles, clapping Apple employees welcomed in the day’s first customers. 

The Vision Pro vaults Apple into its first major new product category since 2015: a $3,499 headset that melds virtual and augmented reality. It’s been a relatively niche market until now, with Meta Platforms Inc. dominating the industry. But Apple hopes to use cutting-edge technology — and the company’s famous marketing muscle — to turn it into something bigger.

At Apple’s New York store, Cook said that customers may be most impressed by the device’s interface — what he called “the magical way you control it.” The Vision Pro relies on eye movement and hand gestures to navigate users through immersive experiences.

“It works the way the mind works,” he told Bloomberg Television’s Caroline Hyde. “People put it on and they instantly know how to use it.”

Read More: Vision Pro Is Latest Bid to Prove Consumers Can Embrace Headsets

The launch was a more subdued affair than the initial rollout of the iPhone and other new devices. When Apple’s phone first went on sale in 2007, customers swarmed stores from New York to San Francisco, desperate to get their hands on one. Friday’s debut drew a relatively small mix of customers either looking to buy the device or just try it out.

Still, Cook compares the Vision Pro debut to the birth of Apple’s other iconic devices, including the Mac, iPod and iPhone, saying it “joins the pantheon of groundbreaking products.”

“Apple Vision Pro brings together thousands of innovations to create a product that’s like nothing the world has ever seen before,” he said in a memo to staff following the launch. “It’s an extraordinary achievement, and as so many of you can attest, it has been years in the making.”

The Vision Pro has a more elaborate sales process than any previous Apple product. It includes 20- to 25-minute product demos that show 3D video and apps in mixed reality. At the company’s largest US stores, Apple rolled out circular seating arrangements and carpets to provide testers with a living room feel.

The launch followed a mixed earnings report from Apple late Thursday. Though iPhone sales were better than anticipated last quarter, the company is struggling in China. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri also signaled that sales in the current quarter won’t be as strong as some analysts had estimated.

For now, the Vision Pro won’t be a big driver of sales. Its shipments will be measured in the hundreds of thousands this year, compared with hundreds of millions for the iPhone. But it could turn Apple into the biggest player in the mixed-reality market. 

Analysts estimated that Apple sold roughly 180,000 Vision Pros during the Vision Pro’s preorder period, which began in mid-January. At $3,499 a pop, that’s well over $600 million in revenue.

“I think we’re going to do well,” Cook said in New York after being asked about sales. “I think we’re doing well today.”

Here’s Cook’s full memo to employees:

Team,

Today we launched Apple Vision Pro, introducing an entirely new era of spatial computing. Moments like this should make us all pause — to celebrate what we’ve achieved and reflect on the amazing potential that still lies ahead.

This morning I was with our team at Apple Fifth Avenue, where the excitement for this moment was palpable. It’s an incredible thing to watch people experience Apple Vision Pro for the very first time. The impossible becomes possible right before their eyes, and often they don’t have the words to describe the experience. It really is a technology you have to see — and see through — to believe. And it was truly a gift to hear customers share their amazement, their emotion, and their dreams for this incredible device we’ve created. The whole experience reaffirmed the magnitude of this moment, as well as our Retail teams’ vital role in delivering this unprecedented technology to the world.

Apple Vision Pro brings together thousands of innovations to create a product that’s like nothing the world has ever seen before. It’s an extraordinary achievement, and as so many of you can attest, it has been years in the making. Apple Vision Pro is a reality thanks to you — thanks to your commitment, your passion, and your contributions to the special culture that drives innovation at Apple. I especially want to thank all of the teams that have been dedicated to this project, who poured in countless hours over many years to yet again push the boundaries of what is possible.

Of course, for us, the most important thing about Apple Vision Pro is how it enriches our customers’ lives — strengthening connection, unlocking potential, and empowering people to accomplish things that simply wouldn’t be possible any other way. It’s profoundly moving to think of people reliving their most treasured memories, or even introducing a loved one to a relative they never had the chance to meet. It’s exhilarating to imagine the unbelievable new entertainment experiences our customers will discover, and the innovative apps our amazing developers will create. It’s exciting to think of everything this unlocks for industries the world over, and of the incredible opportunities that still lie ahead. Because with spatial computing, this is just the beginning of the impact we can make.

Two weeks ago we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Mac, a revolutionary device that transformed the world and laid the foundation for decades of innovation. When we shared iPod with the world, we put a thousand songs in our customers’ pockets overnight. I remember the day we launched iPhone. We knew we had something special, but none of us could have foreseen its profound impact on our everyday lives. Then came iPad, a magical sheet of glass that becomes anything you want it to be, fostering new forms of connection and creativity for millions of people. With Apple Watch, there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t get a note from a user about its lifesaving impact. And now with today’s launch, Apple Vision Pro joins the pantheon of groundbreaking products that have defined Apple and redefined technology as we know it.

It’s not every day we have a moment like this one. Thank you for all you’ve done to make it possible.

Tim

(Updates with rest of memo at bottom of story.)

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