Where is the virtual reality market heading?
The virtual reality market, which consists largely of the sale of viewers, is dominated by Meta and its Oculus devices, which would allow the company to capitalize on its March 2014 acquisition were it not for the fact that it seems to be financing the growth of the market by selling VR devices well below their cost.
The strategy has allowed Meta to monopolize 90% of the market for these devices, with a growth of 241.6% during the first quarter of 2022 according to a recent IDC report, thanks mainly to a strong boost in Christmas shopping. In addition to Meta, Pico, owned by ByteDance, has 4.5% of the market, while other companies such as DPVR, HTC and iQIYI have 4% between them. Others, such as Sony, are readying new devices, while the great unknown, Apple, seems to be preparing, according to specialized analysts, to launch what could be its most complex device, with a high price and cutting-edge features, destined to dispute control of the market with Meta’s Oculus.
In 2021, around six million devices were sold, consolidating an installed base of around 16.44 million. Forecasts point to strong growth, but competition is expected to be tough: for the moment, Meta, which is moving fast to try to exploit their pioneering advantage, has managed to attract around 300,000 users to its Horizon platform, although details on usage level and loyalty…
