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

WWE Network Breaks Into Top Five Of Streaming Services

There’s no need for Netflix NFLX +1.60% to watch out, but WWE is building up some steam with its streaming service. WWE issued a press release Thursday touting the WWE Network as a top-five Over-th...

Blu-Ray Struggles in the Streaming Age

“Despite consumer shifts to streaming content, Blu-ray players continue to be owned and used by 44% of U.S. broadband households, or roughly 43.5 million households in 2015,” says Barbara Kraus, direc...

Ordinary Home Appliances Are About to Get Really Sexy

But when all is said and done, it’s the less sexy items that most people will interact with on a day-to-day basis. Washing machines, refrigerators and other home appliances aren’t glamorous, but we al...

Why You Shouldn't Buy A New TV For Super Bowl 50

In fact, 4K has been around long enough to have already had a significant impact on the TV landscape. 4K TVs have found their way in to millions of US homes, while recent predictions by industry analy...