What They Say
IDC put out a release that highlighted that the market for AR/VR headsets grew by 60.8% in the Asia Pacific region last year and reached 2.19 million units. Chinese brands took more than 60% of the market, with dominance in the PRC market. Brand details were:
- DPVR led the overall AR/VR headset market in the Asia/Pacific region, with close to 22% market share and shipment growth of 50.8% YoY. While most of the vendor’s shipments were for the PRC market, it continued to expand in the rest of the region, especially in markets such as Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
- Pico maintained the second position, with a market share of 20.0% and a growth of 50.4% YoY. Pico found large success in switching to the consumer segment with its new Neo 3, featuring 6 degrees of freedom (6DOF). Like DPVR, most of Pico’s shipments were for the PRC market, but the vendor also had a presence in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan, as well as a strong focus in the NA and EMEA regions.
- Meta recorded the largest YoY growth among the Top 5 vendors at 276.2%. This is largely due to the Quest 2 that continued to ramp up throughout 2021 with high demand in mature markets such as Australia, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.
- iQiyi leapfrogged its way into fourth place in 2021 with a YoY growth of 206.4%. Higher investments in marketing coupled with its new consumer-specific models helped it gain strong momentum within the PRC market.
- HTC grew by 70.0% YoY. The vendor enjoyed substantial growth in 2021 thanks to its new models, the Vive Focus 3 and Vive Pro 2, which shipped at high volumes in the PRC market.
IDC expects that the Asia/Pacific AR/VR headset market should grow at a CAGR of 51% in the next five years
What We Think
The contrast with the West where Meta’s Quest 2 has been taking the market is significant. (BR)
