By now, you probably know it by heart: the steep price tag and lack of apps have irreparably doomed the first Apple Vision Pro. But that doesn’t mean it’s not doing well in niche markets and uses, per a new WSJ report.
If you’ve been following the immersive market at all, you’re probably familiar with the fact that even though the Google Glass was far from a hit, it lived on for years as a hands-free industrial and healthcare assistant.
In fact, the same goes for Microsoft’s HoloLens, which saw editions specifically developed for the industry, and was used by companies including Toyota, L’Oréal, and NASA, as well as in architecture and healthcare.
Granted, both products were discontinued in the last few years, which says a lot about the sustainability of a product initially intended for the broader consumer market, existing as a niche enterprise initiative. But let’s leave that aside for now.
The first Apple Vision Pro is following the same industry path, for better or for worse
A new report out today by the Wall Street Journal highlights a few markets where the Apple Vision Pro has been doing well, and actually driving revenue increases, like at Lowe’s, where customers can visualize their actual kitchen after it’s been virtually remodeled:
“The San Jose store has been using the system for about three months. So far, customers like it, and it has made an impact on their purchases (…). The experience encourages some customers to explore more adventurous design options. (…) It also helps some customers come to a decision more quickly, potentially reducing the need for multiple appointments. And sometimes, contractors bring their own clients to the store to use the Vision Pro to help close kitchen sales.”
The report also highlights a recent partnership between Apple and French industrial software company Dassault Systèmes, whose clients “use its platforms to design and engineer molecules for drug development, as well as data centers, factories, aircraft and electric cars.”
Last February, Apple and Dassault Systèmes announced the 3DLive App, which has been adopted by companies in the automotive and aeronautic industries.
The WSJ also highlights how the Apple Vision Pro was adopted by CAE, a Canadian aircraft training company, “to provide pilot training that complements full-motion flight simulator experience required for certification and recurrent checks” due to its sharp display and audio quality.
Regardless of how you feel about the Apple Vision Pro, the (paywalled) story is interesting and may be worth your time, despite the point I’m about to make below.
9to5Mac’s take
While any tech enthusiast may enjoy learning about different uses of state-of-the-art technology, particularly in markets they are less familiar with, it is still telling that the Apple Vision Pro seems to be following the same path as its now-sunset predecessors.
Apple itself has been gradually leaning on showcasing different industrial use cases for the first Apple Vision Pro, which is probably all it can do to foster demand and offload its inventory to a market that is much less price-sensitive, while it gears up for better, lighter, and cheaper versions that it hopes will have more appeal to the general public.
Ultimately, the pivot to the industry isn’t that different from pivots to the education sector that we have seen from products like the Chromebook or the iPad. The difference here is that we’ve yet to see a success story of a product that went to a niche market to save itself, and returned to the broader consumer market to tell the story.
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