Global AR/VR headset shipments increased by 130.4% year-on-year in 2023Q4: Meta, Sony, and ByteDance ranked among the top three

News on March 6, according to the latest report released by market research firm IDC, with the easing of macroeconomic pressure and the launch of new products, global AR/VR headset shipments increased by 130.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager, Mobile and Consumer Device Tracking, IDC, said:

Meta's share was overtaken by Pico and later Sony a few quarters ago, but has been steadily climbing thanks to its continued hardware subsidies and the launch of the Quest 3.

While the entry of Apple and new devices from other players in the space will undoubtedly add to the pressure, Meta's lead will have little impact in 2023 as the company's low-cost, high-volume strategy will set it apart from the rest. .

For the full year of 2023, AR/VR headset shipments fell by 23.5% compared with 2022. Macroeconomic uncertainty put downward pressure on demand in the first half of the year, with most companies relying on legacy products that have been available for at least a year, resulting in double-digit declines. It was not until economies in major regions began to recover and new products began to be launched that the market began to rebound, but it was not enough to offset the decline in the first half.