Since the original Oculus Quest launched, Meta has been pretty much alone in the standalone VR headset market. Sure, rivals like Pico and HTC have been making standalone headsets for almost as long as Meta, but the company’s voracious desire to be a leader in the space has proven to be a successful strategy. Proven.
As a result, the Oculus Quest 2 is the most successful VR headset ever. (opens in new tab)We don’t yet have a full sales data point on how many headsets Meta will sell in 2022, but it looks like the company has crossed the 20 million sales line. It’s a win for the VR market as a whole, and a way forward.
With that in mind, Meta faces more competition than ever in 2023. HTC will launch its first full-fledged Quest competitor in the US next month, and in parallel, Sony’s PS VR2 will be released. (opens in new tab) plans to attempt to fill in the gaps in the premium VR segment. Potential of US Pico 4 (opens in new tab) A release is still anyone’s best guess, but even without it, we could see Apple jumping into the game later this year before Meta Quest 3. (opens in new tab) debut.
Will they still win? Definitely yes.
2022 was still a very successful year
While we’re still awaiting Meta’s 2022 annual financial report, other analyst firms have already started compiling numbers and reporting on how many Quest headsets Meta sold throughout the year. ? VR headsets fell 2.2% year-over-year compared to 2021, according to NPD Group.
Some outlets like CNBC (opens in new tab) I immediately jumped on the news to claim the death of the Metaverse.
CNBC’s journalism on this particular subject has been embarrassingly bad. It was made worse by the number of outlets who scooped up that story over and over again and parroted the same mantra repeatedly. The problem is that the facts tell a very different story.
In a year that put thousands of people out of work, the best-selling VR headset is $100 more expensive than the year before.
Midway through the year, Meta removed the Facebook account requirement and increased the price of the Quest 2. (opens in new tab) for $100.As a rule of thumb, this is nothing like so far It happens with consumer electronics. The price of the product will decrease over time, but never increase.
Despite this, Meta is only 2.2% less profitable in 2022 than it was in 2021. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this is a win for the industry, not a net loss. In a year that saw thousands of people lose their jobs, his best-selling VR headset was $100 more expensive than the year before.
The momentum is clear. People want to play VR games and choose Meta over everyone else.
not all competition is the same
Meta’s unique position will continue next year for several reasons. First is the price. The only company that can compete for the same price is Pico, a company owned by his ByteDance of TikTok fame.
Michael Hicks and I interviewed Leland Hedges, Pico’s General Manager of EMEA, in December. The interview was full of fascinating information, but one particular fact stood out: Pico’s biggest market right now is Germany, and years ago he became an Oculus head because of his relationship with Facebook. Countries that have banned the sale of sets.
The Pico 4 is the only major standalone VR headset that’s actually affordable. HTC’s Vive Focus 3 is a great product, but at €1,000 more than the Pico 4, the Pico 4 is the obvious choice for consumers.
Pico’s biggest market right now is Germany, a country that banned the sale of Oculus headsets a few years ago because of their ties to Facebook.
But Pico can’t (and won’t) tell us when it will attempt a US launch. No one at the company will ever say it out loud, but to me the reason is very clear: Pico is owned by his ByteDance, the same Chinese company that owns TikTok, and is under intense scrutiny. facing (opens in new tab) From American and European governments over the years.
After all, no one wants to be Huawei (opens in new tab) We see investments dry up when products are banned from countries.
But what about HTC? Vive XR Elite (opens in new tab) A very promising headset that seems to solve all the problems of the Meta Quest Pro (opens in new tab) Still a few hundred dollars cheaper.
It also marked the first physical US release for a Vive standalone headset. This could lead to a level of US success the company hasn’t seen since the first Vive.
The problem is the price. At $1,099, it’s more than double his price tag for the most expensive Quest 2, and about the same as the upcoming Quest 3, which he’s rumored to launch for $400 in October this year. HTC’s attempt here is incredible and looks like a breathtaking headset, but price will only matter more this year as companies lay off more and more people. We cannot deny that. (opens in new tab).
The Vive XR Elite seems to solve all the Quest Pro’s problems, but it’s still twice the price of the Quest 2.
So what about Sony? PS VR2 launches just one month later on February 22nd, launching with 30 games (opens in new tab), many of which have famous names. Resident Evil, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Jurassic World, Star Wars and The Walking Dead are all names that every gamer knows and loves.
By all accounts Sony should be doing great things heading into launch and I’m sure they will, but Sony’s expectations are much lower than those of Meta. I plan to own a VR2. (opens in new tab) It’s ready for a February launch, and is expected to sell at least twice as much as the original PSVR.
The problem is, at least for the market as a whole, that means we expect to sell 2 million (or so) headsets in 2023 as a whole. It makes sense that the sales expectations are lower than the Quest 2, which retails for $400 and has nothing else to do.
VR continues to grow
This is just a list of products we know will actually launch again this year. But there is one small player he hasn’t touched yet. Apple.
Apple Enthusiast Continues to Say the Headset Will ‘Release This Year’ (opens in new tab)Many rumors and leaks suggest that Apple has no interest in competing directly in the Meta’s price range, proving once again that Meta will continue to lead. Sales of VR headsets are by far the best, no matter who is in the race.
VR isn’t going away anytime soon. There is no data showing nonsense like “dying”.
It’s also possible that Apple’s headsets aren’t even in the same computing space as headsets from Meta, HTC, Sony, or Pico. A recent rumor suggests that Apple won’t even ship a proper controller with the headset. So either it’s a media consumption device or it has more to do with augmented/mixed reality than virtual reality games.
It’s like saying smartphones compete with laptops just because they both have screens and some features overlap. In short, I wouldn’t expect Apple to actually try to compete with Meta at the forefront of the game.
However, here’s the deal. Regardless of who comes out on top in 2023, the VR industry as a whole continues to grow at an exponential rate, and everyone wins, especially developers. VR isn’t going away anytime soon. There is no data showing nonsense like “dying”.
And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Don’t wait, get Meta Quest 2 today and start gaming like never before. VR is one of those things you have to experience to believe, and once you put the headset on, it’s hard to take it off.
