It's true that 50% cut in production followed by a halt in production does not mean that Vision Pro development has stopped. A smaller number of employees could continue work and something could be released in a few years, like any R&D project.
In comparison, Meta smart glasses sold 2M units in 5 quarters. Essilor-Luxotica is increasing production to 10M units by the end of 2026. Perhaps to be expected at 90% lower cost than Vision Pro, but those volumes have kickstarted an app ecosystem for smart glasses, which has failed to materialize for the low-volume VisionPro.
If future 2027 Apple AR glasses appear with a subset of VisionOS, they will compete with incumbent products from Meta and Xreal. Some lessons learned and some apps developed for Apple AR could help Vision Pro and VisionOS, if Apple AR gains millions of users like Meta smart glasses.
In comparison, Meta smart glasses sold 2M units in 5 quarters. Essilor-Luxotica is increasing production to 10M units by the end of 2026. Perhaps to be expected at 90% lower cost than Vision Pro, but those volumes have kickstarted an app ecosystem for smart glasses, which has failed to materialize for the low-volume VisionPro.
If future 2027 Apple AR glasses appear with a subset of VisionOS, they will compete with incumbent products from Meta and Xreal. Some lessons learned and some apps developed for Apple AR could help Vision Pro and VisionOS, if Apple AR gains millions of users like Meta smart glasses.