Counterpoint: XR headset sales will reach 11 million units in 2021

According to the latest Counterpoint forecast, shipments of extended reality (XR) headsets are expected to grow from 11 million units in 2021 to 105 million units in 2025, an increase of about 10 times. The adoption of virtual reality (VR) headsets has accelerated in 2020 and 2021, mainly due to the good performance of Oculus Quest 2 in the consumer space and the good performance of DPVR and Pico in the enterprise space. Counterpoint believes that sales of XR headsets will start to increase significantly in 2022 as this will be the year with the most new XR product launches, including the Oculus Quest series, Sony PlayStation VR2, and the most anticipated Apple AR glasses. Oculus and Sony have generated strong demand for their devices and have established a good user base for upgrades, while Apple has a long history of gaining sales in new categories.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Karn Chauhan, Senior Analyst, said, “VR Standalone has become the preferred device type in the gaming space, primarily due to the success of Oculus Quest 2. Wireless is the future of XR headsets. VR Standalone devices are preferred over wired devices by OEMs and consumers, which has led to relatively slow growth in the latter. Augmented Reality (AR) has been a small segment since 2016, primarily serving the enterprise segment with high-spec and high-priced products. Apple is expected to enter the AR wired industry and we expect it to become the fastest growing device by 2025. This will boost participation of many other brands, especially smartphone OEMs.”

Metaverse is the hottest concept on the Internet recently, which has attracted the attention of industry players and pushed them to develop products around it. Since XR devices are the main interface of Metaverse, the latter may become a catalyst for the XR industry in the next few years.