Standalone Headsets are Poised to take over Consumer Marketplace.

San Francisco, CA – May 27, 2019 -- Greenlight Insights’ 2019 Virtual Reality Industry Report reports on consumers’ use of virtual reality by providing a statistical look at the marketplace and its expected growth over the next five years. The report also provides overviews of major competitors in the field including Facebook, Sony, HTC, Google, and others.

Greenlight Insights finds that the consumer-oriented head-mounted displays (HMDs) mobile market, defined as holders for mobile phones which are used to provide the processing and image generation in the head-mounted display, is declining rapidly. To a large extent this is due to the surging wave of standalone headsets, which do not have a cable connecting them to a computer. These include the Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, and the HTC Vive Focus, as well as a number of compelling new entries into the marketplace. With the price of a new HMDs dipping well below $500, consumer use is expected to increase. However, the image quality of consumer priced HMDs is still a significant issue and the companies that bring higher quality displays into the consumer price range will certainly see immediate acceptance.

In the consumer content marketplace, Greenlight Insights found that most consumers use VR for games and entertainment. The unexpected success of rhythm games, such as Beat Saber, have spawned a substantial number of imitators. However, Greenlight Insights finds that first-person shooters (FPS) are still an extremely popular game genre, as are wave shooters and multiplayer adventures and shooting games.

JC Kuang, analyst at Greenlight Insights, said: “The VR market has undergone a period of dynamic change, but continued investment from a handful of major platform providers has ushered the technology into its first major refresh cycle. More specifically, Standalone HMDs are poised to overtake PC-tethered HMDs in market share within five years. 2019 promises to be an important year for consumer adoption to begin catching up to the enterprise."

Kuang added, “VR for consumers is continuing to grow. We expect it to become a $34 billion industry by 2023, driven by more advanced HMDs in standalone and console VR categories. Direct consumer content, such as games, will further supplement the VR ecosystem by providing compelling experiences that draw in more new and casual users.”

Greenlight Insights’ 2019 Virtual Reality Industry Report is available now. For more information, and to become a subscriber to Greenlight Insights’ Virtual Reality Intelligence Service email hello@greenlightinsights.com, visit greenlightinsights.com, or call 415-854-3282.

About Greenlight Insights

Greenlight Insights provides proprietary and syndicated research, consulting and events about the future of virtual and augmented reality. Greenlight Insights also sponsors the annual virtual & augmented reality strategy conference, xRS Week, which will next be presented in San Francisco, October 16-18, 2019. More information at xrsweek.com.