The penetration rate of VR-enabled smartphones and tablets, as well as shipments of VR devices bundled with gaming consoles or PCs will continue to soar in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to Digitimes Research.
Among these devices, shipments of VR video-enabled smartphones and VR devices bundled with consoles will be higher compared to other devices. Meanwhile, vendors of VR-enabled tablets and VR headset bundled PCs are advised to target niche markets initially before they make headways by coming out with products with reduced prices and enriched content, Digitimes Research commented.
While VR applications are diverse, gaming and video are still the dominant VR applications in 2016. The successful launch of VR video-enabled flagship smartphones by Samsung Electronics in the first half of 2016 will encourage other vendors to follow suit. Additionally, Google and ARM are expected to update their VR video applications with reduced algorithm requirements in the fourth quarter of 2016 which will foster the development of more VR video-enabled mobile devices. Shipments of VR video-enabled smartphones are expected to reach 70 million units in 2016, accounting for 5% of global smartphone shipments, Digitimes Research estimated.
Since the price/performance ratio of games consoles bundled with VR headsets is higher than for PCs bundled with VR headsets on average, shipments of VR devices supporting consoles will be higher than VR devices paired with PCs in the fourth quarter of 2016, Digitimes Research indicated. Sony is expected to ship over three million PlayStation VR devices in the quarter, far higher than rival vendors.
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