China’s XReal Sees AR Glasses Shipments Climb as Apple Stumbles

Chinese augmented reality (AR) glasses maker Xreal is reportedly nearing shipments of 200,000 units.

The startup launched in August of last year and shipped 100,000 units in its first four months, Co-founder Peng Jin told CNBC in an interview published Tuesday (July 4).

“So you can do the math, how long it takes to do 200,000 units? It won’t take that long,” he said, but did not specify a date.

The CNBC report noted that it’s not clear if Xreal’s pace of sales changed, as the company said in May that it had sold 150,000 pairs of AR glasses worldwide. PYMNTS has contacted Xreal for comment but has not yet received a reply.

The news came one day after reports that Apple had cut the production forecast for its $3,500 Vision Pro mixed-reality headset due the complexity of the headset and manufacturing difficulties.

According to the Financial Times (FT), sources close to Apple and Luxshare — the company assembling the Vision Pro headsets — said the aim is to ship under 400,000 units next year, a dramatic step back from a past internal sales goal of 1 million units in the first year.

Apple did not reply to PYMNTS’ request for comments on this report.

“A lot of this is normal growing pains,” Jay Goldberg, founder of tech consultancy D/D Advisors, said in an interview with the FT, calling the Vision Pro “the most complex consumer device anyone has ever made.”

Aside from the price tag, Apple CEO Tim Cook has called the Vision Pro “the first device you look through and not at,” adding that “your surroundings become an infinite canvas.” In terms of what’s on tap when the device goes on sale next year, Apple is aiming to have 100 games available, as well as access to the Disney+ streaming service.

PYMNTS wrote last month that while Apple’s fan base — or anyone else who can afford a $3,500 piece of hardware — might be anticipating the product’s launch, it is too soon to determine whether the consumer population at large will show the same enthusiasm.

“Given the similar concerns about high consumer costs for Vision Pro’s predecessors — and their relatively low costs in comparison to Apple’s offering — the wearable’s prospects for future success are murky, even though many of the augmented reality innovations stemming from these wearables could have real-world benefits,” that report said.