​Global sales of virtual reality (VR) headsets and augmented reality (AR) devices will fall 13% for the full year, according to IDC. Factors such as the economic crisis and rising prices for these devices are to blame.

Virtual reality headsetPhoto: Meta

It is also important that many customers are not convinced to spend money on such gadgets because they do not find them useful or believe that VR content is not enough.

IDC estimates that 9.7 million VR and AR devices will ship in all of 2022, with Meta via Quest 2 accounting for 85%, while ByteDance’s Pico has 7%. DPVR (1.8%), HTC (1.1%) and iQIYI (0.9%) close the TOP 5.

IDC predicts market growth of 30% next year and beyond 2023, so sales could reach 35 million units in 2026.

Sony and possibly Apple will enter the market in 2023, so things will become more interesting and the offer more diverse.