Q1 shipments of AR/VR headsets fell by 54.4%. Is this waiting for the next generation of equipment?

**Source: **Financial Association

Edit Zhou Ziyi

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Global shipments of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets slowed sharply in the first quarter of 2023 as the global macro economy falters.

According to the "Global AR/VR Headset Quarterly Report" released by International Data Corporation (IDC) on Thursday (June 1), the overall AR/VR headset market fell by 54.4% year-on-year in the first quarter, with VR headsets taking the lead. It shows 96.2% of the shipment volume. Compared with the wave of enthusiasm driven by the epidemic in the same period last year, the first quarter of this year is particularly bleak.

The data also shows that while VR headsets still dominate the market, AR headsets experienced a solid quarterly growth in Q1, growing 12.6% year-over-year.

Focus on Apple

Among the top five AR/VR headset manufacturers, Meta continued to lead with a market share of 47.8%. Sony accounted for 35.9% of the market share in the first quarter due to the surge in sales of the new PSVR2. Bytedance’s Pico From 4.4% in the same period last year to 6.1% this year, Dapeng DPVR and HTC ranked fourth and fifth, each with a market share of less than 2%.

A noteworthy addition to the top five is Sony, which re-emerged as Meta's main competitor in the first quarter of this year. After Sony launched the PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) in February this year, early sales of the device have surpassed its own. The previous generation PSVR sold about 600,000 units in its first six weeks of release.

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC Mobile and Consumer Device Trackers, said, “Despite the recent downturn, this is an exciting time for the AR/VR market as new entrants and next-generation headsets are expected to be available in the next few months. Roll out in weeks or months."

All eyes are now on Apple, which has yet to announce an AR/VR headset of its own. A mixed reality (MR) headset called Reality Pro is expected to be announced next week at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23).

Ubrani added, however, that Apple's share of this market will be limited in the short term given Apple's sales strategy for the headset and its high price.

Critical Development Period

In addition, an IDC executive believes that the AR/VR market is currently at a critical stage of development, with many companies launching new devices.

Ramon T. Llamas, research director for mobile devices and AR/VR at IDC, said, "It's amazing to see new features and capabilities appearing on AR/VR headsets today, and while they may initially appeal to a subset of the audience, they will continue to evolve, Finally get the user's attention."

“Features such as eye-tracking systems and environmental sensors, as well as the potential for AI-driven experiences and software — all of which are in their infancy — will eventually become more ubiquitous and enable new use cases,” Llamas said.