CES 2016: Global Consumer VR Revenue to Top $18 Billion in 2025


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Joseph O'Halloran

| 07 January 2016




The growing trend towards personalised video, plus demand in the gaming sector, is likely to drive a marked consumer uptake in virtual reality (VR) headset sales, says research firm TDG.



According to the analyst’s latest report, The Future of Consumer VR and Its Impact on Video Viewing, 2016-2025 VR is being boosted as video viewing evolves from a social medium —traditionally understood as groups of viewers sitting together in a living room to watch TV programmes on a television set — to an individual experience, defined by solitary viewing on smaller, more personal screens with audio delivered via headphones.

Moreover, according to Joel Espelien, TDG senior analyst and author of the report into VR trends, such fragmentation is key to understanding the future of VR viewing. "Driven initially by gaming applications, the trend toward personalised video experiences will pave the way for the adoption of virtual reality as the next screen,” he argued. “Low-cost, mass-market VR headsets (using either a smartphone or PC for processing) will hit the market in 2016, and content providers and advertisers of all stripes are currently developing content for this new platform."

Despite the general optimism, TDG warns that VR faces strong forces that will limit its growth, including an aging population reluctant to accept the VR experience; physical limitations, including VR nausea; social concerns and constraints; and competition from other screens. TDG predicts that VR headsets will experience notable growth from 2016-2025, which will drive content sales and VR video viewing. It expects that by 2015 VR will have a global user base of more than 275 million, 60 million in the US alone, with global VR-related revenue to top $18 billion.