Parks Associates is out with new consumer research that was shared this week with VRJournal.
According to the data provided, VR headset ownership is soaring. 2% of U.S. broadband households (that’s about 2.3 million households) already own a virtual reality headset, the report reads.
Not surprisingly, VR is featured prominently on the agenda for an upcoming event presented by Parks — “CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference” (May 24-26) in San Francisco.
At the conference, analysts will discuss findings from 360 View: CE Adoption and Trends, a survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households, which also reveals 5% of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a VR headset in 2016 (that’s up from only 1% who made a purchase the year prior).
“The big change in VR for 2016 has been the availability or pending availability of VR headsets from companies such as Facebook (Oculus Rift), Google (Google Cardboard), and HTC (Vive),” says Barbara Kraus, Director of Research at Parks Associates. Sony PlayStation VR is expected to be released in October. We expect gamers to be the initial market for VR. VR is an immersive experience, and more is better for gamers — more immersion, better sound, better graphics, and more players. The mass market is more likely to adopt mobile VR, which will be less expensive and uses a tool — the smartphone — that the majority of U.S. consumers own.”