Wedbush analysts said in a note Wednesday that the Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Vision Pro was strong out of the gates, and it is the first step in a broader artificial intelligence strategy for the iPhone maker.
Analysts, who have an Outperform rating and $250 price target on AAPL shares, said that around six months ago, the consensus view on the Street was that 70,000 to 80,000 would be the initial targets and stretch goals for the Vision Pro coming out of the gates, given the high $3,500 price point and laser developer focus.
"Fast forward to pre-orders hitting the Apple website this past Friday, and based on our initial reads/delivery times it looks like close to 180k Vision Pro units were sold over the weekend in a very impressive Cupertino launch," they wrote.
Wedbush now expects Apple to ship and sell roughly 600,000 Vision Pro headsets for 2024 compared to their prior estimate of 460,000 given the demand trajectory and number of apps on the new form factor "look robust and growing."
"This is just the start for Vision Pro," argue analysts. They add that industry checks show the next version of Vision Pro 2 will have a much lower price point, while they also see future Vision Pro models resembling form factors that look like sunglasses over the coming years with north of 1 million Vision Pro units, the firm's "initial sales bogey for FY25."
"For Apple, the ultimate goal in our opinion is that Vision Pro will work alongside the iPhone and other Apple devices over the coming years with many consumer AI use cases set to explode across health, fitness, sports content, and autonomous," said analysts.
"While many on the Street are dismissing Vision Pro as noise, we strongly disagree and believe it's the first step towards a much broader technology vision that Cook & Co. plan to push to its golden Cupertino installed base over the coming years."