Sony appears to be in the lead when it comes to the VR gaming market. The PlayStation VR is ahead of the PC’s HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.
VentureBeat reports that Sony is on top when it comes to the VR market with its PlayStation VR headset. Sony has 30% of the market which is ahead of the 11% and 6% occupied by the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive respectively.
VentureBeat states some obvious facts why Sony is on top of the VR gaming market right now. This is because the PlayStation VR caters to a large audience. There are potentially around 40 to 50 million PS4 owners out there so the market penetration is easier for Sony.
The other reason why Sony’s VR headset is getting a lot of market share is the price. The $399 price point is much more attractive compared to Sony’s other competitors in the VR market space.
Facebook which owns Oculus is in second place with 11 percent of the market. Google also has 11 percent, although their VR headset (Cardboard) is not as fancy as the gaming ones.
The report says that Facebook and Google doesn’t have anywhere near the VR user base of Sony. The Oculus Rift is way too expensive for most people, while Google Cardboard isn’t used for proper gaming experiences. However, both companies are still earning lots of money that is sure to grow in the coming years.
Samsung and its Gear VR headset is just ahead of the HTC Vive. Samsung is similar to Google since it’s only geared to mobile users. HTC Vive is great, but suffers the same flaw as the Oculus Rift and that’s the expensive price.
Even though the PlayStation VR is the most popular VR device, the market as a whole is still pretty small. VR might become more popular as the years go by. The industry just needs some killer apps and games to entice people to buy the headsets.
