Eddie-Griffin
Banned
Omdia: 12.5m consumer VR headsets will be sold in 2022
Consumer virtual reality (VR) will be worth $6.9bn in 2022, increasing to $20bn in 2027, according to Omdia's Consumer VR Headset and Content Revenue Forecast 2022-2027. In the face of macroeconomic challenges, the market continues to expand, with 12.5 million headsets expected to be sold in...
martechseries.com
PSVR 2
The launch of Sony PlayStation’s VR2 (PSVR2) in 2023 will boost the market. Omdia expects 3.6 million PSVR2 headsets sales in two years – an attach rate of about 7% among PS5 owners. Although this won’t expand the VR audience significantly, Sony’s commitment should instill confidence in game companies to invest in the format.
Although Apple is strongly rumored to be preparing a headset, details remain elusive – Omdia has therefore not included it in this forecast.
Quest
With 20 million cumulative Meta Quest headset sales projected by the end of 2022, Quest is the biggest VR ecosystem in the world and the leading VR content platform. Meta is dominating the VR market, with 76% of headset sales in 2022. Despite its best efforts however, mass adoption of VR remains long way off, with just 72 million headsets predicted in use by consumers in 2027 – in contrast to over 6 billion smartphones, nearly 3 billion PC households, and 250 million active gaming consoles.
VR is used for gaming
Games are the main reason people buy VR headsets, generating nearly 90% of VR content revenue today. Social VR apps such as Rec Room, VR Chat, and Meta’s Horizon Worlds use games as their draw – it is clear games will be integral to the metaverse.
VR 2022
In the face of macroeconomic challenges, the market continues to expand, with 12.5 million headsets expected to be sold in 2022, and $1.6bn spent on VR content.
I'm assuming that the 12.5 million headsets expected to sell by the end of this year will almost all be Quest 2, probably 11 million at minimum.
As for the PSVR2, the expectation is 3.6 million headsets sold from Feb 2023-Feb 2025. 7% of Sony's attach rate by then means that Omdia expects the PS5 install base to be around 51 million consoles sold by February 2025. I think given we will still be dealing with some supply issues for a bit longer, especially internationally, this seems just a little high but It's plausible.
This means the analyst team sees that first 2 million Sony is producing to sell gradually over time, and they will produce more shipments when necessary until 2025 when the PS5 reaches their projected 2.5 million, instead of selling 2 million headsets in 2-3 months (lol) that some people think is possible for some reason which even Quest 2 could not initially do. The question is will that 3.6 million be front loaded, and once that's hit will it fall off like the PSVR 1 did for the PS4 selling less and less, or will it remain flat or grow from there.
With No PC compatibility, or BC, or wireless, and not being stand alone, and tied to a console that likely won't see any price drop or at best a minor one by Feb 2025, the only way I see growth after that 3.6 million is if Sony somehow gets gaming experiences no one else will have in that period that will make people want to get the headset. But in the face of other announced or hinted competition releasing in 2023, some with better tech, this will be easier said then done.
In fact, Apples headset could turn everything upside down by itself if they execute it right.
In the meantime, Quest 2 controls 76% of VR headset sales. I'm actually curious as to what's selling that other 24%. I'm guessing most of that is other Facebook headsets like Oculus Go and such because I can't see Valve, Vive series, or Pico series selling more than 3% together. It really is a Quest dominated industry, for now. As I said Apple has the brand and loyal followers to potentially create a more competitive scene, but the upcoming headsets from other companies may too.
Despite large money in industry, aerospace, military, training, and medical, VR is 90% a gaming device by revenue. The tech isn't there yet for these other applications, let alone productivity, and even surprisingly media like movies and video. Games are still the primary reason people care about the current generation of VR headsets and I don't see anything of the upcoming next generation so far, that is going to change that.
However, the software library is lacking severely for VR compared to the prices of the headsets. That would explain the still niche number of headsets sold outside the Quest 2, which can play most of the low-budget and shovelware games for a lower price than the others. I think headset adoption will rise if there's more quality releases, but that means more than just budget. There has to be something in the gameplay as well that can get not just gamers, but casuals to buy for headset sales to rise.
Last edited: