Generally speaking, Apple's consumer electronics products are slightly more valuable in the second-hand market, but the label of "value preservation" is likely not related to Vision Pro.
As a background, although the product was released on WWDC in June last year, Vision Pro was not released in the US market until February 2 this year and is currently only available for sale in the US market.
(February Apple Fifth Avenue flagship store Vision Pro launch event photos, source: Cook's X account)
According to previous reports, unlike the frenzy of crowds at Apple stores in early February, many Apple retail stores have now gone from selling several Vision Pro units a day to not selling a few units a week.
The rapid cooling of the primary market is clearly reflected in the transaction prices of the secondary market.
Second hand market prices make users exclaim "sad"
According to a report by technology media outlet The Verge on Saturday, comparing the transaction prices of the US second-hand trading platform eBay, Vision Pro, which has been on sale for less than three months, has been significantly discounted.
For example, a 1TB version of Vision Pro (priced at $3899 on the official website) with an Apple Care+for $500 and an original travel protection box for $200 was sold on eBay for $3200 on Wednesday, at a discount of nearly $1400. The seller stated that the product "only used for about an hour" and bluntly stated that "to be honest, this thing is not worth this price.".
(Source: eBay)
At the same time, more trial users will choose the 256GB version (priced at $3499 on the official website), which is currently priced around $2600 on eBay.
(Source: eBay)
On Swappa, another popular second-hand trading platform among Apple users in the United States, one can also clearly feel the degree of discount on this product. It seems that if you want to sell the Vision Pro, it will have to bear a discount ranging from $700 to $1000. You should know that the first group of users who cheered with Cook at the Apple store, and the product received it no more than three months ago.
Technology journalist Wes Davis bluntly stated that he spent a total of $3900 on the 256GB version of Vision Pro, including the glasses and installment interest. But when he made a mistake - after checking the second-hand prices on eBay, he found that the current situation of only selling for $2600 made him feel sad.
Davis also stated that although the target audience for Meta Quest 3 ("just" $500) is different from that of its competitors, and even not comparable, the huge price difference clearly puts pressure on second-hand platform prices.
What made early users even more distressed was that the money they spent on purchasing the entry-level product in February can now be used to purchase the top of the line product, which also comes with Apple's additional warranty and travel protection box. Davis said he really likes Vision Pro, but if it's still within the 14 day return window, he will immediately return the item to the Apple store and then place an order on the second-hand platform. He also self deprecatingly said, "Thank goodness, no one can see his tears when he wears this headset.".
Expected significant decrease in shipment volume
The demand for Vision Pro in the US market is rapidly cooling down and has already been transmitted to the industry chain.
Renowned technology industry analyst Guo Minggui stated on Tuesday that Apple has now lowered its Vision Pro shipments for 2024 to 400000-450000 units, which is significantly less than the current market consensus of 700000-800000 units.
The significant reduction in orders for this product before its launch in overseas markets also indicates that the sharp decline in demand in the US market exceeded expectations, leading Apple to view overseas market demand more conservatively.
Guo Minggui also believes that the condition of the first generation Vision Pro has prompted Apple to re-examine its product roadmap. The market had originally expected a new Apple headset in the second half of 2025, but now this matter needs to be marked with a question mark.
