Apple Inc. is ramping up production of the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset for a launch by February.
Production of the $3,499 headset, which would compete with products from Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
and Microsoft Corp.
MSFT,
is proceeding quickly at facilities in China, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The much-anticipated Apple
AAPL,
product, announced in June, is expected to jump-start a middling metaverse market that is struggling to break through with consumers.
Apple’s plan is for the Vision Pro to be ready at retail outlets by February, the people said.
The iPhone maker’s entry could prop up what has been a sagging metaverse market. Sales of VR headsets and augmented-reality glasses in the U.S. tumbled nearly 40% to $664 million in 2023, through late November, according to market researcher Circana. In 2022, sales of AR and VR devices dipped 2% to $1.1 billion.
Shares of Apple were flat in trading Thursday. The stock is up 50% this year.
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