Today, Apple Vision Pro finally expanded internationally after launching in early February in the US. Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore were the first new countries to get Apple’s spatial computer.
To celebrate Apple Vision Pro’s arrival in these countries, Apple’s Deirdre O’Brien went to the company’s store in Beijing. Apple says this product “blends digital content with the physical world to deliver powerful spatial experiences that transform the way people work, collaborate, connect, relive memories, enjoy entertainment, and much more.”
Also starting today, customers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK can pre-order the Vision Pro as Apple prepares to release it in these countries on July 12. Cupertino announced Apple Vision Pro’s international expansion after the WWDC 2024 keynote, as it wants to improve interest in the company’s first spatial computer.
A couple of months ago, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple had cut the 2024 Vision Pro shipments forecast as the company had taken a conservative view of demand in non-US markets.
While the initial concern about Apple Vision Pro sales was Sony’s issue with producing enough micro-OLED displays, it seems Apple itself won’t need the manufacturer’s full capacity after all. In a blog post, Ming-Chi Kuo talked about Apple Vision Pro’s biggest issues:
“The challenge for Vision Pro is to address the lack of key applications, price, and headset comfort without sacrificing the see-through user experience. In contrast, VR is also a niche market, but at least there are proven successful applications (games), and trend visibility is better than MR.”
Even with the WWDC 2024 keynote and visionOS 2 preview, it doesn’t seem this software update will be enough to help this spatial computer regain momentum. That said, we now have to wait for overseas markets’ reception of this product to see if even the higher price won’t be enough to intimidate customers.