Q1 XR Device Market Grows 3x... Oculus Quest 2 Hard Carries

Counterpoint Research Q1 XR Model Tracker Released
Facebook Oculus Holds 75% Share
Emerging as a Strong Player in the XR Gaming Market

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The global extended reality (XR) headset market continued its strong growth in the first quarter, driven by the popularity of the 'Oculus series' and others. Facebook played a key supporting role.

According to the XR Model Tracker recently released by global market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 16th, XR headset shipments in the first quarter of 2021 increased approximately threefold compared to the previous year.

The significant increase in sales of the Oculus Quest 2 led the market growth. The Oculus Quest is praised for its reasonable price and regular software updates that have garnered positive consumer responses. Currently, the cumulative sales of the Oculus Quest 2 have reached 4.6 million units.

Source=Counterpoint Research

Currently, Oculus holds a 75% market share thanks to the strong performance of the Quest 2, which is a 41 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year. The Chinese brand DPVR focused on enterprise and education sectors and rose to second place, while Sony fell to third place for the first time since 2016 due to the absence of a PlayStation VR successor.

The fortunes of virtual reality (VR) devices and augmented reality (AR) devices diverged. Analyst Kan Chauhan explained, "Thanks to the strong performance of the Oculus series, the share of standalone VR in global XR shipments in the first quarter increased from 42% last year to 85% this year. As standalone VR has become especially popular among gamers, other companies are also paying attention to standalone VR."

He added, "On the other hand, the market share of AR devices in the first quarter of 2021 was only 4%. From the user's perspective, AR using mobile devices is sufficient, and due to the lack of representative products and market presence, the AR device market remains in its early stages."

The dominance of the Oculus Quest 2 is expected to continue for the time being. Counterpoint stated, "Oculus has established itself as a strong player in the XR field, especially in the gaming market, with the Quest 2 providing an excellent user experience in a wireless form. Competition may increase in the future as companies like Sony enter this field."

Meanwhile, Counterpoint forecasted that the XR market will record double-digit growth over the next four years. It is expected that Chinese companies, which have entered the smartwatch market, will also enter the XR market once Apple joins.