Highlights

1. Xiaomi sold an estimated 30,000 Mi VR Standalone units within 3 mins of release on its official website. 
2. There are already almost 40,000 reservations for when the headset is restocked in 10 days. 
3.  The 32 GB version is sold out on JD.com (a Chinese Amazon equivalent) and the 64 GB version has limited availability.

Oculus and Xiaomi are seeing early success with the Go and Mi VR Standalone headset selling quite well in the first month of release. Xiaomi's Mi VR Standalone was released earlier this week and almost immediately sold out on its official online store. An estimated 30,000 units were sold on its website, generating about $5 million in revenue in 3 minutes. The stock of the headset will be replenished on June 11 and almost 40,000 customers have reserved the devices. Oculus Go sold out in the first hours of its release on Amazon.

Our Analysis

The Mi VR Standalone headset has and will continue to have a significant impact on the Chinese VR market.

Xiaomi currently has the biggest brand loyalty of any consumer electronics company in China. The company currently has a Samsung Gear-like headset for sale, Mi VR, but it has not generated the amount of interest as the standalone version.

The Mi VR has the same drawback as the Samsung Gear VR: limited possible install base. The headset is only compatible with Xiaomi phones. Although Apple's share of the Chinese smartphone market is drastically shrinking, there is still a significant portion of Chinese consumers that have iPhones. Oppo and Huawei also take up a significant portion of the Chinese smartphone market. This has limited the expansion of the Mi VR headset.

Although Western consumers are just starting to be introduced to standalone VR headsets, Chinese consumers have been exposed to all-in-one headsets for a couple years now. Standalone VR headsets have a significant share of the Chinese VR market for the last year. Currently, standalone manufacturer Pico is one of the top three OEMs in China, earning significant shares of revenue and units sold in the market.

Xiaomi's Mi VR Standalone headset has also generated significant press coverage with the release of the headset through the Oculus partnership. Oculus' expansive (and at times exclusive) content library is a huge advantage for Mi VR Standalone compared to competitors. So far, the reviews of the Mi VR Standalone are positive and the enthusiasm will continue for at least another month.

Xiaomi is the biggest Chinese consumer brand to release a standalone VR headset to date. The release will have a direct impact on consumer adoption in China, taking a leap forward in consumer awareness of VR.

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