There are about 10 million Australian households and nearly a quarter of them will have VR capability via mobile headsets, gaming consoles, or PCs by 2020. VR will be the must buy Christmas present this year, and next …
Australian analyst firm Telsyte has released its Australian VR & AR Market Study 2017. It predicts 115,000 VR headset units will be sold in the second half of 2016 with sales rapidly growing to over 500,000 units in 2017.
It says that this year 46% of sales will be console-based VR systems, 46% mobile VR and 8% PC-based systems. By 2020, it estimates over 3.3 million units of all types will be sold in Australia as more consumers are drawn in by the immersive attraction of virtual reality.
Telsyte Managing Director, Foad Fadaghi, says, “Entertainment will be the main driver of VR adoption in Australia, however, organisations of all types are excited by the prospects of developing VR applications.”
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Telsyte research shows that:
- 75% of Australians aged 16 +are now aware of VR (up from 49% last year). The backing of multinational brands such as Google, Facebook and Sony has helped lift awareness and created pent-up demand in Australia.
- Sony’s PlayStation VR (PS VR) will be the lounge room leader given the 1 million existing PlayStation4 (PS4) home consoles capable of utilising PlayStation VR.
- 65% of VR hardware revenue will be generated by PlayStation VR this year based on surveys that 20% of PS4 users indicate a desire to buy a VR headset.
- Mobile VR is expected to also generate strong sales, but current technological limitations (e.g. not having full 3D head tracking) will limit its use with video games.
- Mobile VR will remain a gateway for many consumers for VR movies, and 360 video applications such as documentaries, eCommerce, and education.
- 76% of those interested in buying a VR unit want to have an enhanced gaming experience
- 66% are interested in non-gaming uses like movies, education, sports viewing, events, and eCommerce.
According to a Telsyte Survey, March 2016 for the Interactive Games Entertainment Association, 28% have expressed a desire to purchase a VR headset, and 40% of these want to purchase a VR headset in 2016. Telsyte estimates that there are more than 5 million regular video games buyers in Australia, making for a vibrant pool of potential early adopters across PC, console and mobile VR platforms.
Telsyte conducted additional research with Australian and New Zealand CIOs and IT decisions makers in August 2016, indicating that 60% had already begun developing, or were considering developing VR applications, for either internal and external (customer facing) uses.
Despite the technological developments in VR, there remains some concerns about the health impacts of prolonged use.
- 33% indicated they were concerned about the health effects of VR
- Of these the main concerns relate to the impact on eyesight (52%) and “not enough knowledge of health effects” (48%).
About Telsyte’s VR & AR Market Study 2017
Telsyte’s Australian VR & AR Market Study 2017 is a comprehensive 69-page report and advisory service offering subscribers:
- Market sizing estimates, platform and vendor market shares, hardware revenues and forecasts
- End user trends across platforms
- Application development trends
- Purchase intentions and use cases
- Enterprise use of VR / AR analysis and insights
- Device profiles and ratings
- Audience estimates and forecasts useful for content and application developers
In preparing this study, Telsyte used:
- Interviews conducted with executives from VR and AR vendors, retailers, software developers, game publishers and channel partners.
- Hands on testing of devices by analysts, including pre-release and post release products.
- An online survey of a representative sample of 1,097 Australians 16+ years of age conducted in July 2016
- An online survey of 302 CIOs and IT decision makers in Australian and New Zealand organisations with 20+ employees (Australia) and 10+ employees (New Zealand) in August 2016
- An online survey of a representative sample of 1,029 Australian video game buyers 16+ years of age conducted for IGEA in March 2016
- Financial reports released by manufacturers, publishers and service providers.
- On-going monitoring of global and local market trends and vendors.