The expected sales figures for the PlayStation VR in 2016 have been significantly lowered by SuperData.
The market research company SuperData published a report before the launch of the PlayStation VR, stating that they expected 2.6 million units of the VR headset to be sold by the end of 2016. However, they have significantly revised this number: The company now expects it to be less than 750,000. The PSVR has so far failed to meet expectations.
But it’s not just Sony’s VR headset that is underperforming. Google’s Daydream has been downgraded by SuperData from 450,000 to 261,000. The HTC Vive remains at 450,000 and the Oculus Rift at 355,000.
Overall, SuperData describes the VR market as the “biggest loser” by the end of 2016 – in terms of the gaming sector.
First PS4 Pro, then PSVR?
Stephanie Llamas from SuperData sees a problem in Sony’s marketing strategy, which is why the PlayStation VR is lagging behind expectations. Sony has clearly stated that virtual reality looks better with a PS4 Pro than with a PS4 Slim, which many players understood as: Get the PS4 Pro first and the PlayStation VR later.
The result is that by the end of the year, not a million VR headsets will have been sold. However, Llamas reports that Sony can still afford for the PSVR to have a slow start. There is still no real competition in this field.
So far, Sony has not released official numbers on how many PSVR headsets have been sold. In October, it was said that the PSVR is on the right track. Jim Ryan from PlayStation stated that Sony expects to sell hundreds of thousands of units at launch.
However, one thing that the PlayStation VR currently lacks is a “killer app”, or a game that would significantly boost sales. There are a good handful of games that are really fun, but nothing yet that would make the VR headset a must-have.
Which games are available for the PSVR, you can read here.
