IDC Report Global AR/VR Headset Shipments Decline, Future Outlook
TapTechNews Jun 21, the IDC (International Data Corporation) released the shipment data report of global AR/VR head-mounted display devices on Jun 18. The data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, the global shipment of AR/VR head-mounted display devices decreased by 67.4% year-on-year.
With the emergence of new head-mounted display categories such as Mixed Reality (MR) and Extended Reality (ER), the shipment of AR/VR head-mounted display devices has decreased. In addition, as Apple enters the market and existing companies such as Meta focus on high-end products such as Quest 3, the average selling price (ASP) of head-mounted displays has risen to more than $1000 (TapTechNews note: currently about 7278 yuan).
The IDC has recently revised the classification standard for virtual reality products, incorporating two new categories: Mixed Reality MR (which can block the user's line of sight but can provide a view of the real world through an outward-facing camera) and Extended Reality ER (which uses a transparent display but can mirror the content of another device or provide a simple head-up display).
In the first quarter of 2024, Meta's market share successfully topped the list, and Apple's market share ranked second, and ByteDance, Xreal, and HTC entered the top five. Quest 3 and VisionPro have seized the education market and attracted developers to develop content for them, but both have high prices.
The IDC's global mobile device research manager Jitesh Ubrani said that with the rise of Mixed Reality (MR), it is expected that pure virtual reality (VR) head-mounted devices will gradually fade out of people's sight in the coming years as brands and developers will design new hardware and experiences to help users ultimately transition to augmented reality (AR). The Extended Reality (ER) display will attract consumers' attention as it currently provides a large-screen experience and integrates with AI and the head-up display in the near future.
Although the average selling price of the entire market has broken through the $1000 mark, this does not represent all products. Ramon T. Llamas, research director of the IDC Augmented and Virtual Reality team, said: The average selling price of augmented reality (AR) devices has almost always been higher than $1000, but the average selling prices of VR, MR, and ER devices are usually lower. Apple's VisionPro has driven up the average selling price of MR head-mounted displays, but the low-cost devices launched by Meta and HTC have slowed this trend. Currently, the prices of many VR and ER devices are less than $500.
Llamas added that it is expected that the average selling price of all products will decrease in the future, but because the entire market is still in the early stage, the prices of first-generation and second-generation devices are more expensive. In order to expand market share in the mass market, suppliers need to reduce the prices of later products and new products.
The IDC predicts that the shipment of head-mounted display devices will resume growth later this year and will increase by 7.5% compared to the previous year. New head-mounted display devices with their lower prices will make their expected turnaround later this year. In addition, it is expected that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the shipment of head-mounted display devices from 2024 to 2028 will reach 43.9%..