cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/50475756

Global shipments of VR and mixed reality (MR) headsets are expected to hit approximately 9.6 million units in 2024, according to a report by market analyst TrendForce. This represents a year-on-year increase of 8.8% compared to 2023.

Meta retains its position as the global leader in VR and MR device shipments with a 73% market share in 2024, which TrendForce puts down to the popularity of the relatively affordable Quest 3S—priced at just US$299.

Sony’s PS VR2 claimed the second-largest market share at 9% for 2024. But the analyst said despite its efforts to integrate the PS VR2 with PC, using adapters to broaden the content available to users, limited functionality and application support have held back its sales. It says these issues caused Sony’s annual shipments to decline by 25% year-on-year.

Apple Vision Pro quickly captured 5% of the overall market after launching earlier this year according to the report, making it the third-largest player in the VR/MR market. The analyst thinks that the high price and lack of applications may have held back Apple’s Vision Pro sales compared to previous product launches, though the headset will likely influence the future direction of the entire market.