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

Warner Bros. and Paramount might merge. What's it going to cost you to keep streaming?

“It’s a challenging time for service providers to make the money work,” said Elizabeth Parks, president of Parks Associates. “It makes sense that there will be a lot of consolidation in the market. We...

More People Are Considering Buying an Antenna To Watch News, Sports, TV Shows, and Movies

Twenty percent of U.S. internet households own a TV antenna, according to research firm Parks Associates’ ATSC 3.0: Impact and Opportunity for Video Services industry report. It also found that 12% mo...

Judgment Day Is Coming For Streaming Services Not Named Netflix Or Amazon

While consolidation might seem obvious given the challenges in the market, it will likely take longer than most people think, Parks Associates analyst Eric Sorensen told IBD. That's because of a host...

Synamedia CTO shares 2024 predictions

With streaming service churn rate holding steady at 47 per cent globally according to Parks Associates, the argument for retention centers back on content availability and user experience. Viewers wil...