Virtual reality headset sales will explode this year, according to IDC.
Applying its trademark number-of-units-sold forecaster to the VR market for the first time, IDC reckoned 9.6 million VR hardware units will be sold in 2016, worth a total of $2.3bn – an increase of 183.8 per cent on last year.
Samsung, Sony, HTC and Facebook’s Oculus will lead the charge with gaming the primary reason for purchase. Augmented Reality will also grow, 189.8 per cent, although IDC reckons AR sets from the likes of Microsoft will take longer to develop as they are more difficult to produce than VR systems.
IDC reckons that 400,000 units were sold this year and expects that figure to ramp up in years to come. ®