IDC Confident VR Will Find 'Its Legs,' Despite Huge Q2 Decline in Headset Units
That global shipments of virtual-reality headsets took a huge nosedive in Q2 doesn’t dissuade IDC from its “positive outlook for the quarters ahead” for VR, though commercial-grade headsets will take increasing share at the expense of consumer models, reported the…
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company Wednesday. IDC estimates Q2 shipments declined 33.7 percent year over year but “expects this to be a temporary setback as the VR market finds its legs,” it said. “Screenless viewers brought a lot of attention to VR in the early days,” as brands like Alcatel, Google and Samsung “artificially propped up” the market by bundling headsets with smartphones, said IDC. Demand for screenless viewers since has declined exponentially, “shrinking” to 409,000 units in Q2 from a million in the same year-earlier quarter, it said: “This category was the largest contributor to the decline in shipments for the overall VR headset market.” A major market impediment is that consumers “still find it difficult to try a VR headset," said IDC. "This is where the commercial market has an opportunity to shine.” With mainstream VR content “still lacking,” more headset vendors “are looking to commercial as a way to build their business while they wait for the consumers to catch up," it said.