New sales figures paint a worrisome picture for the AR/VR market ahead of the anticipated release of Vision Pro early next year. According to a new analysis compiled by Circana and reported by CNBC, sales of AR/VR products dropped by nearly 40% in 2023 alone.
According to the research, 2023 sales of all augmented reality and virtual reality devices stood at $664 million in the United States. This represents a 40% year-on-year decline compared to 2022, which reportedly achieved sales of about $1.1 billion. CNBC adds that the 2022 figure was itself a drop from 2021, even if much smaller at just 2% YoY. These worrying figures are despite massive multibillion-dollar investments from Meta backed by its cofounder Mark Zuckerberg, the report adds.
In the third quarter alone, Meta’s Reality Labs division achieved a loss of $3.7 billion after attaining just $210 million in sales. Meta released its latest Quest 3 headset on October 10 and according to Circana, sales of that model have been comparatively strong. Between October and November, sales of VR headsets in the US reached $271 million over an eight-week duration, marking a substantial 42% increase compared to the $191 million generated during the same period in 2022.
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Despite Apple’s entry into the mixed-reality market and the lackluster performance of Meta’s VR headset, Zuckerberg appears unfazed about Vision Pro. Shortly after its announcement last June, Meta’s CEO addressed his employees in a company-wide meeting during which he disavowed Apple’s strategy and approach to the AR/VR market.
In the meantime, Apple is gearing up to finally release its $3,499 Vision Pro headset in the US as early as mid-January. The company is reportedly finalizing plans to train its Apple Store employees, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to assist customers with the headset’s setup, usage, and troubleshooting.
Apple is allegedly targeting sales of just under one million units for Vision Pro during the first 12 months of its availability, a figure that could reach 10 million by 2026. Even if the target sales figure is minuscule compared to other products like the iPhone, it would still net the company a revenue of $3.5 billion, dwarfing the rest of the market.
