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Virtual reality headsets will generate about $2.3 billion in sales worldwide this year, up from next to nothing last year, market research firm IDC predicted Thursday. Shipments of VR headsets will skyrocket to 9.6 million units this year, IDC said. Driving the market are three high-definition headsets: Facebook ’s ( FB ) Oculus Rift, HTC’s Vive and Sony ’s ( SNE ) PlayStation VR. The market also will get a boost from lower-cost devices, such as Samsung Gear VR, which use a smartphone as the display. IDC predicts that annual shipments of VR headsets will reach 64.8 million units in 2020, with a five-year compound annual growth of 184%. “Video games will clearly be the lead rationale for people to pick up an Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or PlayStation VR this year,” IDC analyst Lewis Ward said in a statement . Exciting new VR games on the way will lead to a wave of interest in buying VR hardware, especially this holiday shopping season, he said. This month, research firm Strategy Analytics predicted that VR headsets would generate sales this year of $895 million worldwide. It predicted sales of 12.8 million VR headsets this year, skewed toward low-cost, smartphone-based devices. The Oculus Rift, which began shipping on March 28, costs $599. HTC Vive went on sale April 5 and costs $799. PlayStation VR will cost $399, and it goes on sale in October. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive require the use of a high-end PC, and PlayStation VR needs to be coupled with the PlayStation 4 game console. The tangential market of augmented reality (AR) headsets, such as Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) HoloLens, will take longer to develop, IDC said. IDC is forecasting sales of 400,000 AR headsets this year, rising to 45.6 million in 2020. “While development kits from players such as Microsoft, Meta and others point to a strong future in AR hardware, these devices are dramatically harder to produce than VR products,” IDC analyst Tom Mainelli said in a report. “Doing this right is more important than doing it fast, and we urge the industry to continue its slow and steady approach to hardware development here, as AR is going to have a profound impact on the way we interact with technology and the way we do our jobs for many years to come.” In the meantime, expect to see more companies experimenting with AR software on smartphones and tablets, he said. VR headsets cover the wearer’s entire field of vision and provide an immersive video and audio experience. AR headsets are computerized glasses that overlay information onto a wearer’s field of view. RELATED: Augmented Reality Could Be The Next Big Leap For Personal Computing . Scalper1 News
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