VR Shipments Decreased 33% Due to a Lack of Bundling and Discounts in 2018

cageymaru

cageymaru

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The International Data Corporation (IDC) conducted a study into 2018's decline in the number of VR headsets sold. First they found that many of the screenless viewers that were bundled with phones have been discontinued and they accounted for a large portion of the market. Tethered headsets like the Oculus and Sony units haven't received discounts in 2018 to boost their sales like they did in 2017. This led to a 37.3% decline in the tethered market but HTC still managed to sell 111,000 units because of their subscription plan and Pro headset release. The VR market is expected to rebound as standalone devices are just getting their legs and more commercial headset sales occur that allow consumers to test VR for the first time.

Standalone VR headsets grew 417.7% during the quarter, largely due to the global availability of the Oculus Go/Xiaomi Mi VR, which managed to ship 212,000 headsets. While the consumer side of the VR headset market remains the focus of attention, the commercial side has seen pilots and large- scale deployments gaining traction. In 2Q18, roughly 20% of VR headsets were destined for the commercial sector, up from 14% in 2Q17. Along with the increase in share, average selling prices (ASPs) have also increased from $333 to $442 during the same period.
 
If I may provide a completely unresearched opinion on the matter:

I think the release of the Vive Pro may have set off somewhat of a 'wait for the next version' type of mentality. Similar to how no one in the know buys an iPhone between the months of June and September if they want the next model.

So far we don't have any real idea of what the product release cycles for this type of platform are and my best guess is that the longer we stay on Gen 1 the more reluctant people are to buy in.
 
Sonicks said:
If I may provide a completely unresearched opinion on the matter:

I think the release of the Vive Pro may have set off somewhat of a 'wait for the next version' type of mentality. Similar to how no one in the know buys an iPhone between the months of June and September if they want the next model.

So far we don't have any real idea of what the product release cycles for this type of platform are and my best guess is that the longer we stay on Gen 1 the more reluctant people are to buy in.
Click to expand...

That's a fairly reasonable assumption. I think there could also be a slight uptick during the holiday season, not to mention there really needs to be more games that aren't just "VR Parlor Trick" silly casual games. We need serious games. Also, less room-scale crap. Once you have full blown AAA games that people who actually play games enjoy, then you'll get that part of the population and not just the tech-adopters. That's when I'll jump anyway.

Also, having Mr. T on the front page of [H] with a headset on should help sales immensely.
 
I ended up getting one for ps4 pro, it was fun and I can see it taking off but I'm waiting for Vive 3 before I jump in on the PC front. Even the ps4 job did a decent job of getting me hooked on the idea though, considering that's the worst of the options out right now
 
I think all of the stated above most likely rings true in this case.
 
So $150 million in a quarter for Oculus + HTC Vive sales. That’s actually way more than I thought.

I absolutely love the Vive Pro btw. It’s a solid package if you can swallow the large, stiff price.

I think the majority of people are waiting for high res screens at a decent price. Wireless adapter for the Vive starts.. today I think.
 
All the enthusiasts who would pay the current prices have heard of foveated rendering, wireless, wide FOVs, higher resolutions. That is just too many too big changes and those changes are too close.

And non-enthusiasts are not going to be attracted by VR games until the prices drop to mainsteam levels and mainstream video cards become able to run them at 90fps, because developers are not going to invest AAA levels of money in VR games until it's accessible for the masses.

The current headsets are not bad. I'd say that they're more than good. But it's so obvious that there's still that little way to go that would make them (visually, at least) holodeck-level. And it's so close.
 
Smells like 3D.....maybe its just not the "end all" entertainment package it's been hyped up to be...it's a cute novelty. Have to wait and see....I mean it's only been since 2012 (Occulus) and they just now developed wireless?? Neat-o....Not seeing a Holodeck any time soon...lol
 
It's called saturation-

There are only so many people who are going to fork over for gen 1 gear at these prices.

Only so many consumers with the requisite hardware to start with anyway...

I love my CV1, but my excitement will continue to be diminished till we get a look at real gen2 headsets!

The vive pro is at best a gen 1.5.

I want to see a full 50& rez bump over that, and I'll have a nice excuse to buy RTX cards to drive it.

Which btw...I don't think the res bumps will be as hard on the hardware in practice as you would expect, as most of us are using crazy levels of filtering and downsampling/supersampling to maximize the visual clarity out of the existing gear that shouldn't be necessary with gen 2....I hope.
 
It all comes down to expectations. Those of us who remember a time when everything you have that is electronic didn't really exist think VR is a big deal....those of you accustomed to our modern world of eConvenience, you see the flaws. Its not surprising, but in this case VR isn't shrinking, it's the seeding of a market. You know how long it took Amazon to make a profit and not be laughed at.....
 
I've tried them and color me not impressed. MAybe, a lot are like me and don't really get the appeal at this stage. Sure if they progress and get better I might hop aboard but until then it's still just a gimmick. I've asked friends and coworkers if they've got into Vive or Oculus at all and the subject falls on deaf ears more often than not. Not many are using these things.
 
Wireless is not a show stopper for me. Not having easy access to the keyboard is the show stopper for me. If I have to shift my hands from one input device to another, it is a pain in the butt to use VR.
 
I'm interested, but in this perpetual "The next generation is going to be it!" mentality.
 
BSmith said:
Wireless is not a show stopper for me. Not having easy access to the keyboard is the show stopper for me. If I have to shift my hands from one input device to another, it is a pain in the butt to use VR.
Click to expand...
Having the leap motion strapped to my rift was a real eye opener, virtual keyboard demo was amazing.... the current controller stuff just isn't the same at all as hand presence.
 
HeadRusch said:
It all comes down to expectations. Those of us who remember a time when everything you have that is electronic didn't really exist think VR is a big deal....those of you accustomed to our modern world of eConvenience, you see the flaws. Its not surprising, but in this case VR isn't shrinking, it's the seeding of a market. You know how long it took Amazon to make a profit and not be laughed at.....
Click to expand...
Or perhaps those of us who are old enough to have seen the hundreds of "next big things" that failed getting us to our current world see VR for what it is. There are some very important technologies being developed here, but a world where masses of people cover their eyes just isn't going to happen.
 
I'm actually of a different opinion than most. I don't think the hardware is necessarily lacking, but rather the software.

I'm probably the target demographic. I could afford a vr set at will, have a top end gpu, and even have experience playing the thing at a friend's place. The problem for me is just that there's nothing I actually want to play. I think we're still desperately waiting for a killer app. To me, everything is currently a Nintendo wii-esque gimmick at best.
 
The hardware didn't seem so bad when I tried a headset, the software seems to being kind of Spartan if not downright shitty at the moment. Add the fact that VR kind of relies on a very good video card and the last year has not been great for VR as an emerging tech.
 
Eh, I bought the Google Daydream for my phone when Verizon was throwing them away at $30 a pop. For $30 it's fine, but at full price $100 not so fine. And around the $500 price point, I am just not interested at all.
 
Sonicks said:
If I may provide a completely unresearched opinion on the matter:

I think the release of the Vive Pro may have set off somewhat of a 'wait for the next version' type of mentality. Similar to how no one in the know buys an iPhone between the months of June and September if they want the next model.

So far we don't have any real idea of what the product release cycles for this type of platform are and my best guess is that the longer we stay on Gen 1 the more reluctant people are to buy in.
Click to expand...
That's exactly where I'm at. I'm holding out for one with a high enough resolution to be able to look at objects in the distance, a bigger FOV, and not have some crippling problem. Whoever comes out with that I'm buying from.

alamox said:
and you are planning to run that on your coal powered PC ?
Click to expand...
It doesn't really matter IMO. Once you get to a very high resolution, you eliminate the screendoor effect. So even if you don't have enough power to run games natively, you should be able to upscale them and have a higher resolution than what's out there now AND have no screendoor effect.
 
Shipments will continue to 'decline' as people once again grow tired of all the continued hype with little to no improvement on the tech, availability of media, usage that isn't 'situational nitch' and the dangled carrot of breakthroughs in the near future. VR is like 3D tvs.. if you have the disposable income, fine.. but the majority of the country won't care until its actually useful.
 
I get that the majority of the current games aren't for most of the enthusiast PC crowd but there are some solid gems in the mix.

We do need more proper AAA game conversions like Hellblade. Hellblade was a great game on it's own but the VR conversion, as simple as it's implementation is, adds a whole level of immersion that cannot be dismissed as a gimmick.

Kinda sucks that Bethesda missed the mark with Fallout and Doom when a small studio like Ninja Theory was able to hit a home run with Hellblade.
 
HeadRusch said:
It all comes down to expectations. Those of us who remember a time when everything you have that is electronic didn't really exist think VR is a big deal....those of you accustomed to our modern world of eConvenience, you see the flaws. Its not surprising, but in this case VR isn't shrinking, it's the seeding of a market. You know how long it took Amazon to make a profit and not be laughed at.....
Click to expand...
I remember that time and I don't think be it's a big deal. It was a gimmick when it came out decades ago and is still a gimmick for video games. VR's real future isn't in gaming. It will never be anything except a niche peripheral I'm gaming. It will however revolutionize many other industries.
 
I'm interested in VR, but I am holding out for four reasons, in order of importance:

  • I don't have room for a Vive-Type Room Scale setup, and I understand the experience is a bit lacking without it.
  • I'm waiting for more titles that interest me. Most of what is out there right now comes across as arcade/wii-like. I don't care for arcade or wii games at all. There are a few exceptions (Fallout 4, for instance) but I feel like how VR is adapted to FPS titles still has some figuring out to do, especially when it comes to movement. I'm excited for what the future may bring though.
  • I'm waiting for future generations with higher resolutions and no "screen-door" effect.
  • I'm waiting for the cost to come down.
For me, bundling or lack thereof makes absolutely no difference.
 
I am waiting for something to come out that the Wife decides she likes, because with out approval there is no way she is gonna let me buy a product that would cause me to disappear and be completely dead to the outside world for hours on end. So far though Beat Saber is really helping my case, if somebody could put out a solid game in the Potterverse she would be buying it before I even had a chance to interject on which headset I wanted.
 
Maybe just me, but I'd think the market reduced just because people figured out what VR was/is? Sort of like with the Segway (?) (back in the late 90's, we believe the Segway was some sort of matter transportation device.... oh the hype of it all!).

(that should have been clearer... "matter transportation" meaning like "beam me up, Scotty")
 
lack of games would also make this list for my friends currently interested that have tried out my setups.
 
did any of you actually read this..? it said it's mostly because people have stopped buying the crappy Google Cardboard boxes... good! those things are largely trash and should be avoided, GearVR & Oculus Go are the bare minimum you should even bother with... quarterly results are much better for the high-end as well
 
just a side thought but.. with the advent of live streaming i can't see people wanting to watch someone with a Vive on their face dancing around the room on a webcam. Part of the allure of a live stream is to see the actual streamer. The reply might be "but we can now see their face mapped in VR and join in the stream!" fairy dust, but the reality is that it will look shit compared to a real face and be no different than just playing the game yourself in spectator mode
(and owning every game evermade on all platforms so you can run it). Perhaps VR cinema where people sit with other (twitch) users and watch a big screen stream in 3D might take off, idk. Seems complex when you can just sit on the couch with a wireless keyboard and watch on a 55" 4k 120hz OLED and still perceive the world around you usefully enough.

again, just kicking the breeze looking at wider adoption and how people see others playing games and want to play them, themselves.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I'm interested in VR, but I am holding out for four reasons, in order of importance:

  • I don't have room for a Vive-Type Room Scale setup, and I understand the experience is a bit lacking without it.
  • I'm waiting for more titles that interest me. Most of what is out there right now comes across as arcade/wii-like. I don't care for arcade or wii games at all. There are a few exceptions (Fallout 4, for instance) but I feel like how VR is adapted to FPS titles still has some figuring out to do, especially when it comes to movement. I'm excited for what the future may bring though.
  • I'm waiting for future generations with higher resolutions and no "screen-door" effect.
  • I'm waiting for the cost to come down.
For me, bundling or lack thereof makes absolutely no difference.
Click to expand...
My sentiments exactly. Really, i need a few more titles I really want to play (and my rig could use an update as well).
 
Dayaks said:
So $150 million in a quarter for Oculus + HTC Vive sales. That’s actually way more than I thought.

I absolutely love the Vive Pro btw. It’s a solid package if you can swallow the large, stiff price.

I think the majority of people are waiting for high res screens at a decent price. Wireless adapter for the Vive starts.. today I think.
Click to expand...
That is what I am waiting for as well. I love my Rift, but really do not want to spend the $$ for a small upgrade. I want 4K at least!
 
When the general public discovers VR Pron sales will surge.

Edit: mispelled "public" as "pubic"... subliminal slip? Who knows?
 
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