The Virtual Reality market
If the figures of large purchases by some technology giants, such as Facebook and its acquisition of the company Oculus RiftThe efforts of the major mobile technology development brands towards the creation of virtual glasses (Samsung, HTC) or the interest of the major movie industry giants is not enough indication of where the virtual reality market is headed; the virtual reality studio and market forecasts for hardware and software sales are devastating, according to the study conducted by Kzero.
Today we explain the market trend as a
virtual reality company
involved in different projects.
The Virtual Reality market; an exponential reality
In the coming years there will be an increase in both virtual reality devices and applications for these, since as often happens in many cases the content is what feeds these devices that accompany us today, either smartphones, wearables, etc..
The main consumers of virtual reality can be identified in three main groups:
– Hardcore Gamers
– Early Adopters
– Early Majority
Graph extracted from the Kzero consultancy study.
In the graph where we can observe the consumptions of the three main groups, 2014 sales are placed at 200k units sold. This is the year in which this technology is beginning to emerge, thanks to the purchases and developments mentioned at the beginning of this article by the major players . From 2015, sales are expected to reach 5.7M units and 23.8M in 2018. We are talking about a cumulative total, between 2014 and 2018, of 56.8 million virtual reality devices sold.
Virtual Reality Devices
The sector points out that practically all of these devices will be virtual reality glasses such as; Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear, Cardboard, Durovis Dive or new models that will appear on the market. The average price of these glasses is about $300 in 2014 and is forecast to drop by $50 per year through 2018 (a drop resulting from market competition).
The volume of revenue from devices sold from 2014 we can see in the table below where sales increase already in 2015 $1.4 billion over 2014, thanks to a forecast of 5.7 million devices purchased. In the graph, below, we see a progressive increase year by year, achieving a cumulative 2014-2018 figure of $8.4 billion, a more than considerable figure if we add content.
Graph extracted from the Kzero consultancy study.
Virtual Reality content
The real driver of this exponential growth in device sales is content. Virtual reality applications, 360º video and games, are the type of content that will be consumed in these VR devices and what will make more and more people in different markets acquire new units. In order to calculate the billing forecasts for this concept, an active user forecast has been created (it is estimated that a single device has more than one user).
Graph extracted from the Kzero consultancy study.
This chart shows that 2014 revenues were about $30 million based on about 600k active users. It is expected to grow to $947 million in 2015 with 15.7 million active users. Let’s keep in mind that for this year Facebook and Youtube have already announced that their platforms will support 360º videos, one of the key contents on which virtual reality will work.
Total revenue estimated for 2018, in content, is $2.8 billion with more than 47.6 million users. A cumulative over the next few years, through 2018, of $7.7 billion in content.
In summary and to understand in a single graph the revenues that the virtual reality market will provide in the coming years, we attach this graph where we can see the total sales between devices and content in the total consumer market.
Chart extracted from the Kzero consulting firm study.
Market estimates and the way in which the majors are getting involved in this technology show that virtual reality is going to be a must-have content in the day-to-day lives of digital content consumers. If you have not yet had contact with virtual glasses and want to experience their potential, do not hesitate to contact us. Two Reality is a virtual reality agency that has been developing augmented, immersive and virtual reality content for more than 8 years.
Source: Kzero
