According to Tractica, as virtual reality (VR) becomes more pervasive in the consumer market, and adoption and awareness begin to increase, mobile VR is leading the charge and giving many users their first taste of the technology.
Tractica estimates that more than 88% of all consumer-grade VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) sold in 2016 were mobile headsets, and the firm anticipates that the mobile domination of the VR market will continue for years to come, with mobile HMDs constituting three-quarters of annual consumer-grade HMDs shipments in 2021. By that time, the research house forecasts that the total market for mobile VR hardware and content will reach $10.9 billion worldwide.
"Mobile VR has a tremendous amount of momentum, but there is much work still to be done," said Principal Analyst Mark Beccue. "VR is an extremely complex technology, and there are many obstacles to a frictionless, optimized user experience."
Beccue expects that over time, technological breakthroughs in optics, processing efficiencies, cloud computing, software application development, and streaming, as well as increased access to faster broadband, will improve and accelerate the general availability of VR.
"While VR for mobile is currently a less immersive experience than PC and console-based VR," said Beccue, "the gap will narrow considerably between 2017 and 2021. There is a real possibility that mobile will become not only the choice for simpler VR experiences, but the choice for the vast majority of all VR experiences."
