Virtual and Augmented Reality Headsets: Interesting insights into the sales figures

Next month, when the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is released, the sale of the new mixed reality headsets will also start. Microsoft and its OEM partners are optimistically optimistic, but no one cites concrete sales targets or expectations. The Spectra7 supplier, which supplies all manufacturers with cables, has announced a record quarter already, and has also taken over Microsoft’s forecast that by 2020 80 million headsets will be sold worldwide.

2.1 Million headsets in the second quarter, Sony and Samsung ahead

In the second quarter of 2017, 2.1 million AR and VR headsets were sold worldwide, an increase of one quarter compared to the previous year (Google Cardboard and similar devices are not included). Volumes declined slightly from the prior quarter, but recent price cuts on existing products and announced plans for new products are expected to lay the groundwork for a successful holiday season.

Virtual reality products once again made up more than 98% of shipments in the combined AR/VR market. On the VR side, screenless viewers accounted for over half of all the headset shipments during the quarter. Tethered VR headsets captured 43%, up from the 34% in the previous quarter, driven in large part to Sony’s ongoing success with the PlayStation VR and Oculus increasing shipment volumes thanks to price cuts.

Meanwhile, in the still very small AR headset segment, shipments actually declined year over year as several consumer-focused products with big launches last year failed to sustain their volumes a year later. To date, the small but lucrative volume of success in AR headsets has been focused on the enterprise and that’s likely to continue for the near term. Below are the top 5 manufacturers with their Shipments, respective Market Share for the second quarter of 2017:

1. Samsung Gear VR: 568,000 pieces (26.7% Market Share)
2. PlayStation VR: 519,400 pieces (24.4% Market Share)
3. Oculus Rift: 246,900 pieces (11.6% Market Share)
4. TCL: 106,400 pieces (5.0% Market Share)
5. HTC Vive: 94,500 pieces (4.4% Market Share)
6. Others: 594,800 pieces (27.9% Market Share)

It will be interesting to see how the new mixed reality headsets for Windows 10 will change this market. With the two top players Samsung and Sony, which account for about half of the entire market, they do not compete directly, so I expect that there will be a competition between Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and the new headsets. The exciting question is whether the market is noticeably buoyed by the fact that the total number of units goes upwards, or whether the customers are simply taken away from each other.

The comparatively high production numbers of PlayStation VR also show that a corresponding solution for the Xbox One certainly also has great potential. In this regard, Microsoft has promised news for the year 2018.