superdata – Page 2 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

January 11, 2018

SuperData Research Weighs-In on CES 2018’s Biggest VR News

This year’s annual CES event, Las Vegas, has brought two major announcements for the virtual reality (VR) industry: HTC’s Vive Pro and Oculus VR’s partnership with Xiaomi for the launch of the Oculus Go in China, set to be known as Mi VR. Both of these announcements will shape the future of VR over the course of 2018, and SuperData Research’s head of immersive technology insights, Stephanie Llamas, offers her insights as to just how this will unfold.

Vive Pro Profile Below follows the commentary offered by Llamas, verbatim. Llamas is currently at CES 2018, along with VRFocus, and you can find out more about her experiences from the show on her personal blog.

Vive unveils hardware upgrades with the new Vive Pro

What this means: Tethering has been a big issue for VR thus far, which is why the Vive Focus and Oculus Go were designed to hopefully quell that issue. However, Vive is striving to create gold-standard devices (think of it as the iPhone of VR: higher cost, higher quality, lower accessibility), so experience is going to continue to trump affordability. But cost may be the key to adoption, at least in the beginning, so they will need to corner the enterprise market and provide extra compelling content for high-end users until mainstream consumers gradually get hungrier for premium devices.

Oculus VR partners with Xiaomi and Qualcomm to launch the Oculus Go worldwide and the Mi VR Standalone in China

What this means: Facebook can invest in VR without an immediate path to profit, unlike Vive. Therefore, they can afford to create more economical products that will help boost overall penetration and, in turn, make them the primary household name for VR. Oculus is also focusing on Facebook’s strong suits – social media and experiences – rather than invest in hardware development where they don’t need to. Right now, Vive is winning China in regard to high-end devices, so this is Oculus VR’s chance to get into the region by selling to a different market. Meanwhile, Xiaomi, which shipped over a million devices by November 2017, is striving to corner the Chinese standalone and premium mobile markets in the face of their strongest competitor, Huawei, who is working with Oculus VR competitor Google. These partnerships bode well for all companies involved – as long as the quality of experiences are high enough not to deter the general public from VR (the way Google Cardboard did).

December 8, 2017

PlayStation VR’s Impressive Sales Boasts a Secure Future for VR

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) announced yesterday that the PlayStation VR has surpassed 2 million unit sales in a little over a year since launch. This is no mean feat for a head-mounted display considered an ‘add-on’ for a console, and even more so when you consider the fact that the peripheral carries a price tag nearly as high as the PlayStation 4 console itself. However, the rate of sales for PlayStation VR isn’t just good for SIE, it’s good for virtual reality (VR) as a whole.

PlayStation VR 2 headset “Sony continues to outperform expectations as its install base continues to grow. Already a winner at Black Friday this year, the newly released figures are in line with our expectations, and indicate both a healthy console market and a steadily growing promise for VR,” states Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData Research. “Console-based virtual reality grows slow but steady. With [PlayStation VR] selling 2M units it is clear that, conform our expectations, there continues to be a viable market for VR.”

The commentary offered by SuperData Research’s CEO is in line with the feeling of the VR industry as a whole. However, there’s also an air of caution when considered the above stated fact that many consumers consider PlayStation VR and add-on to the PlayStation 4 console, opposed to a unique platform in its own right.

“It should be noted that against a total install base of 70.6M, the attach rate is less than 3%. By comparison, the Kinect, which was recently discontinued, sold 35M units across both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One.”

In light of SIE’s recently revised PlayStation VR retail packages, including big name titles such as DOOM VFR and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR along with a PlayStation Camera, SuperData Research acknowledges the strength of discounting prices at the launch of AAA software.

PlayStation VR DOOM VFR Bundle

“Bundling drives success. Now that we’re in the second half of the current hardware generation, more price-conscious and risk-averse consumers look for great deals. For this generation in particular, bundling consoles with well-known titles has proven effective in getting consumers to spend.”

The PlayStation VR’s success thanks to recent discounting has seen the device rocket to the top of Amazon’s ‘best sellers’ list, as well as supported new software with impressive sales. VRFocus will continue to keep you updated with all the latest details on PlayStation VR’s market growth.

November 23, 2017

Is HTC Vive Falling Behind in the Standalone Headset Race? One Analyst believes So…

Last week HTC held the Vive Developers Conference, Beijing, in which the company finally revealed the Vive Focus; a standalone head-mounted display (HMD) set to launch in the Chinese market in 2018. However, the company has been very standoffish about confirming a western release, despite revealing that a previously announced partnership with Google had been cancelled. So where does this leave HTC’s plans?

HTC Vive Focus headset

According to Stephanie Llamas, VP of Research and Strategy of SuperData, the lack of any hard confirmation of a western release is almost as bad as outright denying a version of the HMD will be made available.

“It’s a shame this will only be available in China for the foreseeable future. This is part of a larger strategy to capture the Chinese market as quickly as possible, but Vive is going to be left behind in Western markets if HTC lets the Oculus GO come to market first, even if their headset is 6DoF instead of the GO’s 3DoF,” stated Llamas. “Standalones are the future of VR, and Vive can be a frontrunner — they just need to get it in front of consumers at a reasonable price.”

The actual story of HTC Vive’s intentions for the western market is somewhat complicated. Shortly after the announcement of the device a third-party confirmed to VRFocus that the Vive Focus would launch in North America and Europe later in 2018. However, HTC Vive then issued a statement to VRFocus which neither confirmed nor denied this fact.

Llamas does acknowledge that the Chinese market is important and that HTC Vive can benefit from targeting that audience first, however is cautious about the aggressive nature of the competition in China.

“The strategy to jump into the Chinese market as quickly as possible has benefited Vive, which is competing against the likes of Chinese tech goliaths Huawei, which is partnering up with TPCast to create wireless headsets that use cloudVR, and Xiaomi, which is also coming out with standalone.”

HTC Vive Focus animated GIF

HTC Vive has promised to deliver more details on plans for a western standalone HMD in 2018 and the likelihood is that the original plan – two similar HMDs with software distribution channels tied to their geographical demographic – is still in place. However, that delay into 2018 could cost HTC Vive as in addition to the Oculus Go, the high-end Santa Cruz HMD from Oculus VR is set to launch late next year. VRFocus will of course keep you updated with all the latest details on the Vive Focus, Oculus Go and Santa Cruz HMDs

October 13, 2017

New Report Shows Long-Term Improvements in AR Opportunities

VR Intelligence has been working on a new report into how immersive technology is changing business. The company has teamed up with research firm SuperData and the UK Department of International Trade to produce a white paper on the rise of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (AR).

The report indicates that at present, there is considerable demand for VR solutions and products in enterprise, particularly for applications in healthcare, education, manufacturing and retail. These areas currently make up 70% of immersive tech research, according to the report.

Furthermore, the report predicts that use of VR will continue to rise through until 2020, though projections indicate that MR and AR technologies will be growing at an even faster rate through the projected time period.

The report writers conducted extensive interviews and use-case studies with leading industry figures such as Intel, McLaren Automotive and Heatherwick Studios to gather data about how immersive technology is being used and developed within an enterprise setting.

“A year ago, VR was perhaps perceived as more of a novelty that we were experimenting with. Now, the

exec team and the directors at McLaren can see that VR has become a fundamental part of the design process; and at the other end of the vehicle design journey, a great customer experience too.” Mark Roberts, McLaren

“We started using VR first as a presentation tool for our clients. However, quite quickly we realized that we could use it in our design process.” Ondrej Tichy, Heatherwick Studios

“Augmented reality is going to mature and be a big component of the business landscape eventually.” Frank Soqui, Intel

The full report can be downloaded from the VR Intelligence website.

VRFocus will continue to report on developments within the VR/AR/MR sectors.

August 3, 2017

VR Revenue to Hit $30B Claims Superdata’s Games and Interactive Media Report 2017

Superdata Research is one of the foremost marketing and research companies focused on the videogame and virtual reality (VR) industries, having released numerous reports on the growth on this nascent industry. It’s last report came in May, estimating the VR industry to reach $37.7 billion USD by 2020. Today, the company has released its next report, ‘Games and Interactive Media Report 2017‘, reducing that figure somewhat whilst also revealing the gaming habit of American VR users.

As you can see in the graph below, Superdata predicts worldwide VR revenue to hit $28.3 billion, split between $12.1 billion for hardware and $16.2 billion for software. While that’s a sizable increase in the next three years -and useful to know for long term planning – companies working in the industry may be more interested in the claim that total earnings are expected to rise by 106 percent in 2017 in comparison to 2016.

Superdata Games and Interactive Media Report 2017

For studios and manufacturers to properly succeed in creating a sustainable VR market they need to know who they’re catering to. While stats will vary from country to country, Superdata has looked at the American VR user, splitting them into four categories. There’s the Immersed Console Player, classed as male millennials aged 18-24, who are the only demographic to use PlayStation VR (52%) over any other headset.

Then there’s the Starstruck Explorer, classed as female millennials aged 18-24, who are most compelled by content where they can explore landmarks and locations (37%). Males 35 years old and over are the High Earning Virtual Tourist, most likely to use a mobile headset over any other demographic (70%). Lastly females 35 years old and over have been classed as Engaged Mobile Crusaders, most likely to try a device for the first time inside their own home (48%), often trying their children’s headsets.

Make what you will of these figures and assumptions, but as they continually show, VR entertainment is only going to grow which is no bad thing.

VRFocus will continue following the latest research on VR, reporting back with the latest updates.

May 19, 2017

Investments in Enterprise VR to Reach $167m Worldwide in 2017

Much of the currently available market data points towards the continued growth of the virtual reality (VR) market, with some research pointing towards the consumer VR market being worth $40 billion (USD) by the year 2020. But it isn’t just consumer VR that is on the rise, enterprise VR is seeing its share of growth, too.

Research conducted by SuperData Research suggests that investments by companies into enterprise VR will reach $167 million in 2017. VR enterprise investments reached a total of $146,730,000 in 2016, which SuperData analysts say shows companies are realising the growing importance of VR for purposes other than videogames.

The enterprise segment of the market covers a range of areas including education, healthcare, transportation, engineering, design and retail, among others. VRFocus has previously reported on a number of these areas, such as VR technology for virtual prototyping, VR to help train doctors in skills from surgery to breaking bad news, and software that allows for holiday planning entirely in VR.

SuperData also found that corporate research and development annual spend would reach $4,036,578,000 by the end of 2017, and increase from the figure of $3,350,360,000 from 2016.

Previous reports from SuperData and other market research companies have shown that the VR industry may have had something of a slow start, compounded by supply problems with the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, but is now experiencing decent growth and expansion from being purely an entertainment product to being a tool used by a variety of businesses.

VRFocus will bring you further information on VR market research when it becomes available.

May 9, 2017

SuperData Research Shows VR Market Will Be Worth $4.9 billion by end of 2017

A new report issued by SuperData Research highlights the projected growth of virtual reality (VR) and what is driving the expansion in the VR sector, such as hardware sales and peripherals.

The report estimates that over the course of 2017, the VR market will grow to a projected $4.9 billion USD, estimated to reach $37.7 billion by 2020, which would be an increase of 20 times what the market was worth in 2016. The growth is mostly being driven by the increase in the amount of hardware and software available for consumer purchase.

It also indicates that in 2016 supply constraints of hardware such as the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR had largely held back revenue, but that this issue has largely been resolved. The report predicts that the greater availability of hardware will drive consumers to spend more in the VR sector.

Another report by CCS Insight shows that the Mobile VR section of the VR market is still dominant, with research suggesting that 14 million smartphone headsets will be sold in 2017, rising to 25 million in 2018. Ben Wood, Chief of Research at CCS Insight had this to say: “Headsets designed for smartphones are the entry point for most consumers when it comes to virtual reality. Google’s Cardboard devices and Samsung’s Gear VR headsets have been the early market makers in this area.”

CCS Insight’s global forecast for VR and augmented reality (AR) shows the slow beginnings of the market, but emphasises that the VR industry is still in its early days and still shows great potential for healthy growth over the next five years.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on industry reports and business forecasts.

April 5, 2017

SuperData Research Expects VR Consumer Revenue to Hit $40 Billion by 2020

SuperData Research has been one of the more prolific companies looking at the virtual reality (VR) industry and its potential growth. In conjunction with Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR), the two have now released a new infographic showcasing who the audiences are and what they’re buying.

The infographic leads with figures dealing with revenue, with hardware sales currently driving revenue of $1.5 billion USD in 2016 and videogames currently top software sales. By 2020 though, software sales are expected to eclipse hardware, with global revenue hitting almost $40 billion.

Currently VR awareness among Americans over 18 stands at 32 percent, with VR users in the 18-34 age bracket for both men and women leading the way at 37 percent and 26 percent respectively.

In February SuperData released a report in collaboration with Unity Technologies called “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: The 2016 Mobile and VR Games Year in Review“, looking at how the markets performed in greater detail.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of SuperData, reporting back with the latest research analysis.

SuperData-Infographic-at-SVVR-2017v11

March 16, 2017

UK VR Market Valued At £61m Reports Ukie

Videogame trade body Ukie held its annual Games Industry Market Valuation event today, revealing the value of UK market to be £4.33bn GBP in 2016. As part of the report Ukie highlighted the role virtual reality (VR) had to play valuing its market share at £61.3m.

This is the first time Ukie has included VR in its overall valuation of the UK videogame industry. Alongside the £61.3m – attributed to the consumer launch of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and mobile headsets – the trade body also acknowledged the impact VR had on the sale of graphics cards, with top-end models driving PC game hardware sales up by 64 percent to £258m from 2015 figures.

Ukie valuation_hardware

Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of Ukie, said in a statement: “Our sector is constantly innovating and investing in new experiences, technologies and talent, resulting in the strong and resilient games industry shown in this £4.33bn market valuation. It has been an excellent year for the industry, including the release of first commercially available VR headsets, an exciting year for our national esports scene, and the explosion of the UK mobile market, which is now worth nearly £1bn alone.

“These statistics will go a long way to reinforcing the message that the UK continues to be a world leading games market, remaining strong in the face of an uncertain political climate. Ukie will continue to use these stats to promote the strength of our sector nationally and worldwide to investors, the media, policy makers and more, to prove that the UK is the best place to make and sell games.

“The next year will be a big year of change, but we look forward to seeing the market remain resilient and robust and a leading creative economy in the UK.”

Events within the UK are also growing, up 20.6 percent from 2015, which Ukie puts down to a growing esports scene in the UK and consumers heading to more shows such as Insomnia, EGX and EGX Rezzed.

Last month The VR Fund released its European landscape analysis of the VR industry, noting that 50 percent of the companies are based in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden. 26 were from the UK, 19 from France, 11 in Germany, and 9 came from Sweden.

VRFocus will continue to follow the UK VR industry closely, reporting back with the latest news.

March 7, 2017

Women Already Represent 41% Of Mobile VR Users According To Market Research

Although the virtual reality (VR) market is largely dominated by young men between the ages of 18-35, young women and older adults are rapidly catching up, according to market research by SuperData in their report ‘The Virtual Consumer’.

SuperData found that the current VR market is comprised of a niche audience of early adopters, which tends to skew more towards men. Men between the ages of 18-35 make up 37% of the VR market as a whole, and a majority of the non-mobile VR audience. This group represents 76% of the PC market and 73% of the console market.

Samsung Gear VR Oculus Rooms

However, SuperData found that the mobile VR market was more mainstream due to its lower cost presenting less of a barrier to entry. Women represent 41% of the mobile VR market, with 68% of women between the ages of 18-35 using a premium mobile phone as their primary VR headset. 54% of women aged 35 and older use a mobile VR device, primarily to watch live music content.

The company predicts that as time goes on women will make up a larger share of the VR audience as the prices of VR devices continues to drop, and budget headsets such as the ones from Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi are introduced. SuperData expects that women will represent 38% of future console owners and 35% of future PC owners.

Stephanie Llamas, Vice President of Research and Product Strategy at SuperData had this to say; “Currently, potential owners earn at least $10,000 less than current owners, since cost remains the major barrier to entry in the industry. The introduction of more affordable devices will open the door to the average consumer and allow them to feel more comfortable buying content for their device knowing it won’t break the bank.”

VRFocus will bring you more information on VR market trends as it comes in.