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

Analysis: The impact of Google Stadia shutdown on Amazon, Xbox, and other cloud gaming initiatives

Research firm Parks Associates released a report Monday morning showing that at least 35 million American households would be interested in picking up a cloud gaming service at a roughly $9.99/month p...

Alphabet Inc Takes One More Step Toward Becoming a TV Powerhouse

The irony is that YouTube TV may well get the growth it’s seeking sooner than anybody expects. Late last year a Parks Associates survey determined that the nascent YouTube Red was consumers’ seventh-f...

No, Apple's licensing of iTunes & AirPlay 2 isn't a 'strategy reversal' in any way

That claim cited research by Parks Associates, which actually showed that Apple TV's share by installed base was not drying up and blowing away as Mims portrayed, but was actually better than Google's...

Bloomberg Attacks Apple TV As Failing To Be "A Groundbreaking, iPhone-Caliber Product"

According to U.S. market research published by Parks Associates last summer, Amazon media player products narrowly out-shipped Apple TV (for a 22 vs 20 percent share of the market) in 2015, but that a...