Decline in Global AR/VR Headset Shipments in Q1 2024
TapTechNews June 21st. IDC released its global AR/VR headset shipment data report on June 18th. The data shows that in the first quarter of 2024, the global AR/VR headset shipment decreased by 67.4% year-on-year.
With the emergence of new headset categories such as mixed reality (MR) and extended reality (ER), the AR/VR headset shipment decreased. In addition, as Apple entered the market and existing companies such as Meta focused on high-end products like Quest 3, the average selling price (ASP) of headsets has risen to more than $1000 (TapTechNews note: about 7278 RMB currently).
IDC has recently revised its classification standards for virtual reality products and included two new categories: mixed reality MR (which blocks the user's view but provides a view of the real world through outward-facing cameras) and extended reality ER (which uses a transparent display but can mirror the content of another device or provide a simple heads-up display).
In the first quarter of 2024, Meta's market share successfully topped, and Apple's market share ranked second. ByteDance, Xreal, and HTC entered the top five. Quest 3 and VisionPro occupied the education market and attracted developers to develop content for them, but both have high prices.
Jitesh Ubrani, IDC's global research manager of mobile devices, said that with the rise of mixed reality (MR), it is expected that pure virtual reality (VR) headsets will gradually disappear from people's sight in the next few years as brands and developers design new hardware and experiences to help users finally transition to augmented reality (AR). Extended reality (ER) displays will attract consumers' attention as it currently provides a large-screen experience and will integrate with AI and heads-up displays in the near future.
Although the average selling price of the entire market has exceeded the $1000 mark, this does not represent all products. Ramon T. Llamas, research director of IDC's 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 headsets, but the low-cost devices launched by Meta and HTC have slowed this trend. Currently, many VR and ER devices cost less than $500.
Llamas added that it is expected that the average selling price of all products will decrease, but as the whole market is still in its early stages, the prices of the 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.
IDC predicts that the headset shipment will resume growth later this year and will increase by 7.5% compared to the previous year. The new headset will achieve the expected turnaround later this year with its lower price. In addition, it is expected that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of headset shipments from 2024 to 2028 will reach 43.9%.