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VR headset shipments will exceed 2 million units worldwide in 2016, according to a report by Canalys. This number is forecast to grow to 20 million by 2020. The lion’s share of 2016 shipments are basic VR headsets that rely on other devices, generally being tethered by cable to a desktop PC. Shipments of smart VR headsets, which can function independently, will reach over 100,000 units. These estimates only include VR headsets with integrated displays, so exclude simple viewers, such as Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Daydream View, which are also shipping in the millions.
As expected, Sony quickly became the VR market leader, with its affordable PlayStation VR catering to the vast PlayStation 4 installed base. Researchers expect over 800,000 shipments in less than three months on the market. Shipments would have been greater if it were not for one key problem: PlayStation VR was delayed until October and is still seriously supply constrained due to problems making its OLED displays.
While Sony has not significantly marketed PlayStation VR during the holiday sales period, Black Friday and Cyber Monday’s USD 100 discounts helped increase sales of HTC’s
Vive in the US. HTC will ship around half a million units in 2016, putting the Vive
in second place. Facebook’s Oculus Rift, meanwhile, is currently getting a boost from its long-awaited Touch motion controllers and will reach almost 400,000 shipments this year.
Some expected products from large vendors were delayed until 2017, leaving significant room for growth, researchers said.
