‘Apple VR headset will be sold at cost price’

The presumably very expensive Reality Pro headset, which Apple will unveil on June 5, will be sold at cost for the time being. The development of VR glasses would have cost more than 1 billion dollars a year.

It has even been considered selling the headset at a loss to gain market share, according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg.

There is much disagreement within Apple about the project that took seven years to develop. Quite a few executives doubt the market opportunities. So far, the VR market has turned out to be a niche market and Apple won’t be able to change that much.

After initially setting its sights on lightweight augmented-reality glasses, Apple gradually drifted towards something more similar to existing devices due to technological limitations. For example, an external battery must be connected for the time being.

There will be no lightweight glasses for the time being. Apple Glasses, codenamed N421, were intended for the consumer market, and would become a kind of ski goggles.

Key people within Apple, such as software boss Craig Federighi, have reportedly kept their distance from the development of the headset. Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, would have been privately skeptical. CEO Tim Cook would hardly have interfered with the project.