Sony could take early virtual reality lead over Oculus
Venture capitalists have invested tens of millions of dollars in VR software start-ups such as Jaunt, Improbable, Altspace and 8i in recent months. Yet IHS is cautious about the VR content market.
“Overall we expect a slow ramp up of adoption and consumption of VR content,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, analyst at IHS. “While the market is more advanced than ever, there are still a number of hurdles that need to be overcome before we see broader consumer adoption.”
However, IHS warned that shortcomings in both technology and content will keep VR to a “niche” audience of early adopters and gamers in its first five years. Its analysts predict that headset sales will lag behind those of Blu-ray players or even 3D television sets at the same point after their launch, with sales of high-end VR systems such as Oculus, Vive and PlayStation VR totalling 2.5m units next year.
“Conditions are more suited to virtual reality technology and content adoption than ever before,” IHS said in its first in-depth study of the market, while adding: “It is neither a bubble nor the next big thing.”
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