philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Virtual Reality Devices Forecast To Leap To 337 Million; 65% Smartphone-Based

Revenue will grow from $5 billion this year to more than $162 billion by 2020, according to IDC’s worldwide, semi-annual virtual reality and augmented reality spending guide.

Half of that revenue will come from AR/VR hardware alone.

The majority (75%) of global AR/VR revenue will come from Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), the U.S. and Western Europe this year, but the U.S. will lead by 2020. However, the two different segments will trade off in terms of growth and revenue throughout the next four years.

Another recent study by Ovum projects that 68 million VR units will have been sold by the end of this year and that number will grow to almost 140 million in the next five years.

Most VR units sold over the next year will be promotional viewers, like Google Cardboard, but due to growing consumer adoption, mid-level mobile VR units, such as Samsung’s Gear VR, will account for most (65%) of units sold in 2020, according to Ovum.

Non-mobile VR systems like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will account for almost a quarter (21%) of market share by 2020.

After next year, revenues from AR will surpass VR with the mass adoption from the healthcare and industrial sectors, according to the IDC research.

See the full story here: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/282624/virtual-reality-viewers-growing-to-337-devices-65.html