Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

In The News

How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?

Parks Associates released new consumer research this week showing that 2 percent of U.S. broadband households, or 2.3 million households, own a virtual reality headset. The survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households reportedly reveals that 5 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a VR headset in 2016, an increase from only 1 percent 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). Sony PlayStation VR is expected to be released in October. We expect gamers to be the initial market for VR,” Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates director of research, says. “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.”

From the article "How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?" by Laura Hamilton.

Previously In The News

It's Really Hard to Make Money With Virtual Reality Games

Considering the high profile of the launch we're talking about 2,300 is an awfully low number, even factoring in some of the criticisms of Light Repair Team #4 and its sparse marketing. That speaks to...

Millennials Lead Smart Home Holiday Season Shopping

Millennials will represent the largest group of shoppers when it comes to Smart Home and consumer electronics purchases this holiday season, with 46 percent of younger consumers indicating “high inten...

More Americans Are Getting Familiar With Virtual Reality Technology

Getting people to know about virtual reality is a critical step for the mainstream adoption. A similar survey by Parks Associates reveals virtual reality demonstrations play a key role to convince...

One Bot To Rule Them All? Not Likely, With Apple, Google, Amazon And Microsoft Virtual Assistants

In order for a virtual helpmate to run your life, it needs to engage with the providers of all the services you rely on, from your calendar app to your Uber ride. Those providers must either partner w...