Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

Hollywood Turns the Page on the Metaverse – and Disney Just Got the Memo | Analysis

All the while, consumer interest never matched the industry’s passion for the technology. The pandemic might have seemed like a prime opportunity to plug in and disconnect, since actual reality didn’t have a lot going for it. But after a jump in 2021, VR headset sales fell 2% last year to $1.1 billion, according to the NPD Group — a far cry from the near-$100 billion market once forecast. Only one in seven households even had a VR headset in 2022, according to Parks Associates. That limited reach means limited appeal for mass-market entertainment distributors.
 
Sheer lack of interest may be the biggest factor holding VR back. A Parks Associates survey found that among consumers who hadn’t tried VR, 47% said the reason they hadn’t bought VR equipment is that they saw no use for it. Among those who had tried it, 37% cited the same reason. Far fewer people cited cost, discomfort or a lack of content as a barrier, suggesting that the problem with virtual reality can’t be solved merely by improving the technology or throwing money at creatives to build more VR experiences.
 
From the article, "Hollywood Turns the Page on the Metaverse – and Disney Just Got the Memo," by Owen Thomas.

Previously In The News

Fixed wireless continues to climb US broadband charts - Parks

Parks Associates Research Director Kristen Hanich said FWA and satellite internet are the "fastest growing" segments in broadband. According to Parks Associates’ newly launched Broadband Market Tra...

Multifamily properties report positive effect of smart building solutions on ROI

Parks Associates today announced a new white paper, Smart Tech for Multifamily Properties: Understanding ROI, developed in partnership with SKBM SmartTech, with insights from recent interviews with mu...

6 Best Smart Thermostats in 2024

Smart thermostats are becoming more and more popular, with the share of Internet-connected U.S. households with a smart thermostat rising to 16% in 2022, a recent survey by market research firm Parks...

5G FWA success in USA yet to be seen in India

Additionally, 66% of FWA subscribers consider their pricing plan as fair – which is significantly higher than in the case of other types of fixed broadband technologies, according to a survey conducte...