Vision Pro made more than $157 mn; Apple still cuts production

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If this is what failure looks like, Apple may want more of it. 

A new report, citing old data and dressed in concerned-analysis energy, claims Apple’s Apple Vision Pro is a rare misstep, a headline-grabbing flop that somehow still pulled in more than $157 million in a single quarter. 

In Silicon Valley terms, that’s less “disaster” and more “expensive science experiment.”

The Vision Pro launched in February 2024, wearing its ambitions (and its weight) proudly on its face. At $3,499 before accessories, it was never going to be a stocking stuffer. 

And sure, after a year of slow software updates and a limited library of must-have apps, Apple reportedly shipped “only” around 500,000 units in its first year. Cue the doom music.

According to a report from the FT, Apple has since cut production and marketing, with estimates suggesting just 45,000 units sold during the Christmas quarter of 2025. 

That sounds grim until you do the math and realize those sales equal roughly $157.5 million in revenue, without counting storage upgrades, which Vision Pro buyers apparently love like it’s 2010 and iPods are back.

To put that in perspective, Meta would need to sell over 425,000 Quest headsets to match that revenue in the same quarter. 

Meta dominates VR, owns the market, and still saw its entire Reality Labs division generate about $1.08 billion in Q4 2025. 

Apple’s so-called flop managed more than 10% of that with one ultra-premium product that hasn’t even hit its second birthday.

The real issue isn’t sales, it’s expectations. When you’re used to iPhones selling by the millions, tens of thousands sounds tragic. 

But Apple never pitched Vision Pro as a mass-market gadget. It’s an early adopter device, a “future of computing” prototype you can actually buy, wear, and complain about on Reddit.

Apple likely knew exactly how many units it wanted to sell, built roughly that many, and slowed production accordingly. 

The Vision Pro did what it needed to do: get visionOS into the wild, influence the industry, and give developers something real to build on.

Calling it a failure without knowing Apple’s goals is like calling the first iPad a flop because it didn’t replace laptops overnight. 

The Vision Pro isn’t about winning today, it’s about laying tracks for whatever comes next. 

And if that path starts with $157 million quarters, Apple will probably survive the embarrassment.