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

Is This The End Of The Gaming Console High?

Sony may be back in profit thanks to strong demand for its latest-generation PlayStation and its assorted games. However, the days of the dedicated games console look to be numbered. The majority o...

Smart Home Gadgets Need To Live Together

Smart home technology that has long been knocking at doors will settle into the mainstream after rival gadgets and services become hassle-free guests that get along with one another, industry insiders...

New Study Shows The Growing Decline of Cable TV

In what is a growing list of bad news for traditional pay-TV services, it turns out fewer Americans rely on just traditional pay-TV services. Over half of all pay-TV subscribers also subscribe to a st...

19% of US Broadband Homes Cancelled an OTT Video Service in the Past 12 Months

Parks Associates announced that the churn rate for OTT video services is 19% of US broadband households, indicating roughly one in five households have cancelled an OTT service in the past 12 months....