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

TVOD Use Up Significantly In Q1

NBCUniversal and other entertainment giants are looking to establish new premium video-on-demand business models — and making waves by challenging the traditional theatrical release window in the proc...

App for COVID-19 contact tracing faces hurdles, generational divide over privacy concerns

A survey of 5,000 adults by Parks Associates indicates roughly half, 52 percent, are willing to share tracking data in an app while 28 percent are unwilling. Twenty percent are willing but only with p...

Entertainment Giants Reevaluate Their Smaller Streaming Services

“They’re all analyzing and asking, ‘Is it best for us to throw everything into one service, like an HBO Max, or have a main anchor service like a Paramount+, but also have the existence of other servi...

HBO Max Finally Comes To Amazon Fire Devices; No Deal Yet For Roku (But There's A Workaround)

WarnerMedia has yet to clinch a deal to get the service on Roku, the other dominant streaming device — although Roku users now have a workaround for that (more on that below). Together, Amazon and Rok...