Providing market intelligence for more than 35 years

In The News

How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?

Parks Associates released new consumer research this week showing that 2 percent of U.S. broadband households, or 2.3 million households, own a virtual reality headset. The survey of 10,000 U.S. broadband households reportedly reveals that 5 percent of U.S. broadband households plan to buy a VR headset in 2016, an increase from only 1 percent who made a purchase the year prior.

“The big change in VR for 2016 has been the availability or pending availability of VR headsets from companies such as Facebook (Oculus Rift), Google (Google Cardboard) and HTC (Vive). Sony PlayStation VR is expected to be released in October. We expect gamers to be the initial market for VR,” Barbara Kraus, Parks Associates director of research, says. “VR is an immersive experience, and more is better for gamers – more immersion, better sound, better graphics, and more players. The mass market is more likely to adopt mobile VR, which will be less expensive and uses a tool – the smartphone – that the majority of U.S. consumers own.”

From the article "How Many Consumers Actually Have VR Headsets?" by Laura Hamilton.

Previously In The News

PayPal Leads The Way In US Mobile Payments, But Retailers Not Happy

Mobile payments are still an up-and-coming new capability for consumers; while mobile banking has clearly led the way, there’s still a lot of interest in mobile payments at least in some fields. Wh...

BMW’s Vision For A World Of Connected Cars

“We’re moving past the early adopter phase of connected cars,” says Jennifer Kent, a director at Parks. “Most of the usage is still core to the driving experience: Mapping and navigation, maintenance...

Most people want their car to connect to the Web

40 million people are already driving cars with some connected features, most of them connecting through your smartphone. Plus, 64% of people who have a broadband connection at home want a built-in co...

Smartphones driving consumer demand for connected cars to an all-time high

According to new Parks Associates research published ahead of the 2016 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), 44% of car owners in US broadband households already have some a connected car fea...