Sony Interactive Entertainment’s (SIE’s) virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), PlayStation VR for PlayStation 4 maybe launching later this year, several months behind its competitors, but it seems it might be garnering more interest than the rest. A recent report from SuperData indicates that the PlayStation VR will likely sell more units in America, with six million consumers intending to buy this year.
The report suggests the Oculus Rift is the next closest with five million Americans while the HTC Vive trails with only two million intending to purchase. It does also note that production will not be able to fulfill demand at the current rate, which is unsurprising due to the well documented issues Oculus VR has had with orders, pushing some owners shipments back into June 2016.
Also detailed is the consumer knowledge of the various headsets. Currently 28 percent of Americans have heard of PlayStation VR while Oculus Rift is sat at 22 percent and 21 percent for Samsung Gear VR. HTC and Valve collaboration the HTC Vive sits way down at the bottom at 5 percent.
But what about VR as a whole, is it really a technology that most people want? From SuerData’s findings currently a large proportion aren’t that bothered with 52 percent saying they’re uninterested in purchasing a device or do not know what VR is, and 49 percent of those surveyed saying they haven’t heard of any HMD brands. Only 16 percent are sure they’ll purchase a device at some point, while 26 percent say headsets are too expensive.
With the PlayStation VR launching in October at a much cheaper price than the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, and with the PlayStation 4’s large user base, it’ll be the end of 2016 that will decide if these figures turnout to be correct.
VRFocus will continue its coverage of PlayStation VR, reporting back any new announcements.
