Report: Magic Leap sold ~6,000 headsets in six months after release, compared to a goal of 100,000 in the first year, and recently laid off dozens of employees

And Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly left its board — Magic Leap's sales numbers reportedly haven't matched CEO Rony … Source: The Information .

The Verge 2019-12-07 Adi Robertson

Context & Ripple Effects

The Information's numbers turn Magic Leap's mystery into arithmetic: roughly 6,000 units in six months against a 100,000-unit first-year target, plus dozens of layoffs and Google CEO Sundar Pichai leaving the board. For a company that raised over $2B on the promise of a new computing platform, this was the moment the consumer bet stopped being deniable.

The arc that follows confirms it wasn't a blip: within months Magic Leap cut about half its staff as it wound down the consumer business, then scraped together emergency funding before eventually exiting headset sales altogether.

First-order effects

Magic Leap's employees absorb the immediate hit — dozens laid off now, with the company signaling more retrenchment ahead — while Rony Abovitz's consumer-first strategy loses its internal cover.
Sundar Pichai's reported board exit removes Google's most senior voice from Magic Leap's governance, a visible marker of strategic backers cooling on the consumer roadmap.

Second-order effects

Investors who put over $2B into the consumer vision face a forced repricing: the later rescue rounds — including the reported $350M memo and talks with a health company — show capital arriving only after the consumer business was being dismantled.
Competing AR headset makers get the market's cleanest demand signal yet: Magic Leap's shortfall sets the benchmark other consumer-AR pitches will be measured against by both buyers and funders.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds — and the 2024 move to cut all sales and marketing staff and license the tech suggests it did — well-funded spatial-computing startups end up not as platform owners but as patent-and-tech suppliers to whoever actually ships devices, a path visible in the licensing pivot four years later.
Consumer AR consolidates around companies with profitable core businesses that can subsidize hardware losses, while venture-backed pure-plays either find enterprise verticals like healthcare or exit the hardware race entirely.

The trend: Standalone consumer AR hardware is proving unsustainable for venture-funded pure-plays, pushing them from selling headsets toward licensed technology and enterprise niches.

Discussion

@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
Me waiting on the haters to apologize after we were proven right on Amazon and saved the public billions https://twitter.com/... pic.twitter.com/xzCepkX4AV
@benspielberg Ben Spielberg on x
A few facts you seem not to understand: 1) Amazon's jobs projection was a long-term, unverifiable projection. 2) There was no guarantee they'd add any *net* new jobs. 3) They may lease more space in New York over time. The public saved billions of dollars on a terrible deal. http…
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
- Also, and very importantly, these jobs are for FREE. The public was going to pay $3 billion in public subsidies & millions in hard cash building Amazon's campus for them- NYC residents were subsidizing Amazon tons per job. Now they're bringing work without the welfare.
@aoc Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on x
- “It's in Manhattan, not Queens”: If you live in NYC, you would know people commute to work. Amazon would not have paid taxes for many, many years and not contribute to fixing our crumbling subway system. So lots of added strain, no benefit.
@jamessurowiecki James Surowiecki on x
This is so ridiculous. If Amazon had not created the jobs, they would not have gotten the tax breaks - which is exactly what has happened to Foxconn in Wisconsin. If the jobs projection was a fantasy, then so too is the idea that NY was going to give Amazon $3 billion. https://tw…
@richardpbacon Richard Bacon on x
AR and VR. I believed they'd change the world. And the only thing they've actually changed is the employment status of people who work for them. No one, (almost) literally no one cares about AR and VR. https://twitter.com/...
@nickwingfield Nick Wingfield on x
If you want to read the story that prompted a Magic Leap executive to call @alexeheath an “asshole,” please subscribe to @theinformation [story updated with details from an internal Magic Leap meeting this week] Related: @alexeheath is not an asshole. https://www.theinformation.c…
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
But this desire didn't result in more due diligence, it actually resulted in less. They probably felt like they would miss out if they asked too many questions, or they simply assumed that the other reputable players around the table already did the work. “Proxy DD”.
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
There are some super interesting lessons here. My favorite is a combination of FOMO & what I call “proxy due diligence.” Many famous people, companies, and investment banks were all promoted this opportunity, & a surprisingly large number of them jumped at the opportunity. https:…
@profjeffjarviss @profjeffjarviss on x
Perhaps the real Magic Leap was the Prezis they made along the way https://twitter.com/...
@kylealden Kyle Pflug on x
Remember everyone insisting that Magic Leap was going to pants HoloLens any minute now? https://twitter.com/...
@bdsams Brad Sams on x
There was a time Microsoft was worried that magic leap was going to have a huge launch and steal the AR show, but it's a reality that has yet to if ever, arrive from magic leap. https://twitter.com/...
@harrymccracken Harry McCracken on x
Maybe even the name “Magic Leap” set expectations too high. “Long Hard Slog” would have been more appropriate. https://www.theverge.com/...
@nramasarma Nathan Ramasarma on x
🤣I'm tempted to talk to some big name #VCs who thought this pie in the sky was real and that they had seen it so I should shut up! The fact is that everyone is winging it, which is fine as long as you don't claim you know it all to sound smart. Then, you're just a scammer. https:…
@docolumide @docolumide on x
What happens when your funding thesis shoots far ahead of the value hypothesis of your startup... https://twitter.com/...
@hmltn Ian Hamilton on x
With each passing headline Luckey's blog post where he called it “Tragic Heap” seems to fit better and better. https://palmerluckey.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@williampietri William Pietri on x
I count at least 5 waves of 3D hype going back to the 1850s. Each time people think it's going to be revolutionary. Each time it turns out nobody gives a shit. https://twitter.com/...
@rabble @rabble on x
Magic Leap sells 6000 units in its first six months, instead of the internal original goal of 500,000. This is part of why you should release early and often instead of spending $2.6 billion and waiting nearly a decade to test the market. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@palmerluckey Palmer Luckey on x
“Screens around the room displayed sales figures for the device, but the numbers represented the quantity Magic Leap hoped to sell, which was higher than actual sales, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.” Now THAT is “augmented reality”! https://www.theinformatio…
@mhbergen Mark Bergen on x
“fear of missing Oculus” https://www.vox.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
Even though the “ask” was way above average, these “executives” approached the situation with blind optimism rather than normal investor skepticism (many have viewed this as a promote all along). & the fact that other high profile names were involved made them want it more.
@robaeprice Rob Price on x
leaks about company executives decrying leaks are my favourite kind of journalism inside-baseball https://www.theinformation.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@joshconstine Josh Constine on x
Magic Leap's Sundance Film Fest experiences were laughably bad. Its headstart in AR is running out. This could get ugly. Strong reporting by @alexeheath https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@rezendi Jon Evans on x
A billion dollars here, a billion dollars there, pretty soon you're burning through real VC money with not a whole lot to show for it https://twitter.com/...
@jetscott Scott Stein on x
Never fully admitted it was for developers, never was designed for enterprise https://twitter.com/...
@wintonark Brett Winton on x
Brutal That they scaled in-house manufacturing to accommodate a million units of demand... ...and then sold https://twitter.com/...
@scobleizer Robert Scoble on x
This article, while pretty negative toward @rabovitz missed an opportunity to underscore just how big a deal yesterday's announcements by @Qualcomm were. That means @magicleap will see a bunch of low-margins competition in the market soon which makes its path even more difficult.…
@counternotions Kontra on x
$6 billion valuation / 6,000 units sold = Each Magic Leap headset is worth $1,000,000. (New math in venture or 2G iPhone?) https://twitter.com/...
@awwstn Austin Petersmith on x
👀 Magic Leap has sold 6,000 headsets and is burning $40,000,000/month. https://twitter.com/...
@russellholly Russell Holly on x
The folks who were mad at me for never really bothering with Magic Leap, it seems the rest of the industry is catching up to how not ready this thing was. https://twitter.com/...
@yoda Drew Olanoff on x
6k, 100k. close, right? https://twitter.com/...
@retailprophet Doug Stephens on x
Every coal mine (even a virtual one) has its canaries. That said, I maintain the belief that some form of VR,AR, or MR will become a mainstream aspect of how we relate and shop online. https://twitter.com/...
@mattrosoff Matt Rosoff on x
Good reporting. Not surprising. AR is a solution in search of a market. https://twitter.com/...
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Pichai stepping down is significant. https://twitter.com/...
@alex @alex on x
burning $40M+/month is honestly impressive https://twitter.com/...
@amir Amir Efrati on x
New: 👓AR headset👓 maker Magic Leap, valued at $6.4B, sold 6k units in six months; plan was to sell 100k/yr. Been 🔥🔥 tens of millions of 💵/month & recently laid off staff & Google CEO Sundar Pichai is off the board. https://www.theinformation.com/ ... in-depth by @alexeheath

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