Global shipments of VR and AR headsets fell over 20% in 2022 due to economic challenges and market saturation. Meta dominates with an 80% share.

Global shipments of VR and AR headsets fall over 20%

Reasons for reduction

A new report from IDC reveals that global shipments of headsets for virtual and augmented reality, VR and AR, fell by 20.9% in 2022 compared to the previous year. The reasons for this decline are attributed to continued economic difficulties as well as a perceived oversaturation of different units on the market.

Market leaders

The same report notes that Meta’s headset dominated with an impressive share of around 80%. ByteDance’s Pico model was second with a share of about 10%. In total, approximately 8.8 million units were shipped during the year.

The problem with Meta’s dominance

IDC cites Nreal’s Head Researcher Jitesh Ubrani who explains how Meta has built “a moat” using various first- and third-party content which creates significant barriers to entry for other competitors. This domination is seen as one major reason why there have been fewer sales across other brands in recent years.

New opportunities arise?

Jitesk suggests however that this could be an opportunity for companies such as Sony, Apple or even Nreal itself (as they begin developing their own hardware)to create additional content thereby increasing competition within the marketplace.

Overall it seems clear that while uptake may still be slow due largely because most people are not familiar enough yet with these technologies , industries associated them will continue expanding at rapid rates; presenting both challenges but also many potential opportunities!