You read that right. This is what the verdict of a market intelligence firm, SuperData Research, says. It brought to light the worldwide sales of the different virtual reality systems in the first quarter of the year. Gear VR, which Samsung had built in collaboration with Oculus, has surpassed others with its sales. It had sold 782,000 headsets worldwide, almost double the sales of PlayStation VR, which stands second on the list. Let’s have a look at what the statistics reveal –
- Gear VR: 782,000
- PlayStation VR: 375,000
- Google Daydream: 170,000
- HTC Vive: 95,000
- Oculus Rift: 64,000
This clearly indicates virtual reality systems for PC are yet to gain speed in terms of sales. Also, the variation in the figures could also be attributed to the prices. While Samsung Gear costs $100 and sometimes the Korean giant gives them away to customers. The devices are compatible with the Samsung smartphones which are budget-friendly and widely popular android phones. Google Daydream also shares a similar scenario and comes at an affordable price.
PlayStation VR, which is compatible with PlayStation 4, the most-played console on the market has been purchased by a whole lot of buyers. Sony has managed to sell over 53.4 million systems since 2013 but reports suggest there is an issue of limited supply. The company is even planning to boost its production to feed the appetite of users.
The data clearly indicates virtual reality systems for PC are yet to gain speed in terms of sales. There are two major factors that seem to affect the sales of such headsets – the price and the lack of content.
However, if we compare Vive simply outsold the Oculus Rift. HTC’s and Valve’s VR system is a more futuristic-looking headset and comes equipped with a front-facing camera, room-scale VR and two controllers. Also, Vive boasts of a relatively simpler setup. It requires just one USB port along with either an HDMI 1.4 or DisplayPort 1.2 or better.
While you need to have two USB 3.0 ports in your system and an HDMI 1.3 port or better to use Rift.
So even if Vive burns a little deeper hole in pockets, people who are crazy about gaming do not stray away from buying it.
The numbers, however, differ from the report given by IHS Markit, which estimates the sales 2.3 million of Google Daydream while Gear VR is still poised to be the market leader with a sale of 4.1 million headsets.
