Attractive virtual reality drives headset sales

Virtual reality headset sales are expected to increase during the holiday season, driven by demand by video gamers.

The Telsyte Australian VR and AR Market Study 2017 predicts that 115,000 VR headset units will be sold in the second half of 2016, with sales rapidly growing to over 500,000 units in 2017.

Telsyte research shows that 75% of Australians over the age of 16 are now aware of virtual reality. The backing of multinational brands such as Google, Facebook and Sony has helped lift awareness and created demand in Australia.

Nearly one-third of regular game buyers indicated a desire to purchase a VR headset, according to the survey. Research indicates that there are more than 5 million regular video games buyers in Australia.

“Entertainment will be the main driver of VR adoption in Australia; however, organisations of all types are excited by the prospects of developing VR applications,” said Telsyte Managing Director Foad Fadaghi.

In the second half of 2016, Telsyte estimates that 46% of unit sales will be console-based VR systems, 46% mobile VR and the remaining 8% PC-based systems.

By 2020, it suggests that over 3.3 million units will have been sold in Australia (of all types), reaching a household penetration of 22.3%.

Sony’s PlayStation VR (PS VR) is expected to make the most sales, given the large installed base of home consoles capable of utilising PlayStation VR. Accordingly, Telsyte estimates 65% of VR hardware revenue will be generated by PlayStation VR in the second half of 2016. Around 20% of PS4 users have indicated a desire to buy a VR headset.

Mobile VR is expected to also generate strong sales, but current technological limitations such as not having full 3D head tracking will limit its use and applications, in particular with video games.

Telsyte research conducted with CIOs and IT decision-makers in August 2016 showed that some 60% of Australian and New Zealand organisations had already begun developing or were considering developing VR applications, for both internal and external uses.

Despite the technological developments in VR, there remains some concern around the health impacts of prolonged use. One in three Australians surveyed by Telsyte indicated they were concerned about the health effects of VR, with the main concerns relating to the impact on eyesight (52%) and not enough knowledge of health effects (48%).

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/au/Mike Kiev