{"id":568459,"date":"2025-11-13T21:43:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/568459\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T21:43:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:43:19","slug":"who-is-buying-vr-and-xr-headsets-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/568459\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is buying VR and XR headsets anyway?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the outside, it looks like virtual and mixed reality is having a moment. Three new headsets have launched or been announced in the last month: There\u2019s Apple\u2019s M5 Vision Pro<\/a>, the Samsung Galaxy XR<\/a>, and, just this week, Valve announced the Steam Frame<\/a>. Given the marketing, you might assume that means Big Tech thinks this tech finally has some mass-market appeal. But, in the nearly 60 years since the first VR headset, one thing remains true: This isn\u2019t the next iPhone.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s put it this way,\u201d says Tuong Huy Nguyen, a director analyst on Gartner\u2019s emerging technologies and trends team. \u201cEveryone who wants a VR headset already has one.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a question of if people are buying these headsets. They are \u2014 just not in numbers that signal the tech is ready for prime time. According to IDC, Apple shipped roughly 400,000 Vision Pro headsets in 2024. That makes sense, given the $3,500 price tag. But Meta\u2019s headsets are relatively affordable at $300 to $500 and make for popular Christmas gifts. Meta shipped roughly 5.6 million headsets in 2024. Comparatively, 1.2 billion smartphones<\/a> were shipped during the same time frame.<\/p>\n

And despite what might look like hype around the Vision Pro and the Galaxy XR, Counterpoint Research senior analyst Flora Tang said that premium headsets, or those that cost more than $1,000, will represent just 5 to 6 percent of total VR shipments in 2025. That aligns with IDC\u2019s numbers, which estimate that these premium headsets will account for roughly 6.2 percent of the total market in 2024.<\/p>\n

But for such a small market, Big Tech continues to bet big that this is the future. Meta\u2019s Reality Labs, the segment behind its Quest headsets and Ray-Ban smart glasses, just posted an operating loss of $4.4 billion<\/a> on $470 million in sales during its third quarter.<\/p>\n

So the real question is who is buying these headsets? And why are they so compelling to the biggest names in tech?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

A new headset has appeared! Valve\u2019s Steam Frame is appealing directly to gamers, but that\u2019s still quite a niche audience. Photo by Everything Time Studio \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

A stepping stone to smart glasses<\/p>\n

Long story short: Headsets are a bit of a red herring. These bulky devices aren\u2019t really the end goal. Instead, it\u2019s sleek, discreet smart glasses that let you meld the real world with the digital.<\/p>\n

Just look at Meta. It poured billions over several years into headsets, before graduating to audio-only smart glasses with cameras<\/a> in 2021. Then, last month, it launched the Meta Ray-Ban Display<\/a>, its first glasses with a heads-up display. This is the same roadmap that Google, Samsung<\/a>, and Apple<\/a> are currently on. But while companies work on refining sleek, wearable glasses, they have to simultaneously invest in headsets to build out the software.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually, we all know we want to get to the glasses, but it\u2019s just going to be a while until we get there,\u201d says IDC\u2019s Ubrani, referring to the dream of Tony Stark-like smart glasses with all the computing capabilities of XR headsets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe headset is a form factor that\u2019s sort of here for now, and in the future, maybe gamers will use it. It\u2019s here for a flash in the pan so we can get to the thing that we actually want.\u201d<\/p>\n

So who\u2019s buying headsets?<\/p>\n

While the average person wants a finished product, stepping stones are absolutely the purview of enterprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe largest portion of Apple Vision Pro headsets actually went to developers and businesses. They\u2019re the ones trying to create new experiences,\u201d says Jitesh Ubrani, IDC\u2019s research manager for mobile worldwide device trackers. \u201cWhat we saw for Vision Pro, and I strongly suspect we\u2019ll see the same for Galaxy XR, is it\u2019s essentially priced out of consumers\u2019 hands. And the consumers who do want an XR experience have much cheaper options available.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re paying with your own dollars, a gadget needs to do as many things as possible. With a corporate budget, there\u2019s more flexibility for cutting-edge devices that do perhaps one or two things well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the short and mid-term, what we need and what will get adopted is purpose-built devices,\u201d says Nguyen, the Gartner analyst. \u201cBefore today\u2019s smartphones, it was PDAs and BlackBerrys. Very purpose-built if you\u2019re a business person who needs your emails, or something like that. That\u2019s where we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Galaxy<\/a><\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy XR is still prohibitively priced at $1,800, and devs aren\u2019t sure Google is truly committed to Android XR. Image: Owen Grove \/ The Verge<\/p>\n

The numbers don\u2019t lie, either. IDC says Apple may have only shipped 400,000 Vision Pros in 2024, but it held 30 percent of the enterprise market, second only to Meta at 47 percent.<\/p>\n

Likewise, the overwhelming majority of Vision Pro owners The Verge spoke with were independent XR developers or enterprise users. Most had paid for the devices out of their own pocket.<\/p>\n

All had a longtime interest in this space, with many either owning or having previously owned Quest headsets. Many had dabbled or were interested in experimenting with Samsung\u2019s Galaxy XR. (Unsurprisingly, price was the biggest barrier there.) Most enjoyed immersive content and passthrough capabilities, and a handful had an interest in gaming. But the most common use case for every single analyst and headset owner I talked to?<\/p>\n

Making jobs that need lots of big screens easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a programmer, so I like having a large workspace. If I have to code on a small screen, having multiple windows open \u2014 it feels very cramped. The goal for me was always to replace screens and my laptop is one of them. I\u2019d be very happy if in the future I have no TV, no computer, like no screens in my home,\u201d says Jacob Fiset, an XR enthusiast and Vision Pro owner.<\/p>\n

Fiset doesn\u2019t use a Mac, but has figured out a way to connect his PC to the headset using open-source software. He mostly uses his Vision Pro at the office, though he acknowledges that he\u2019s alone in doing so.<\/p>\n

David Larose, chief information officer of Drancy, a suburb of Paris, France, is currently tinkering with the Vision Pro to create more private CCTV screens. \u201cSometimes, police or secret service needs access to our cameras but we don\u2019t have space or extra TVs to give them. My idea is to allow them to have their own totally private CCTV wall without using our physical one,\u201d Larose says.<\/p>\n

Headsets like the Vision Pro or Galaxy XR could change how hospitals train new doctors and update outdated infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\"Doctor<\/a><\/p>\n

This is how Dr. Korn envisions doctors may review patient case files in the future. Image: Dr. Tommy Korn, Sharp HealthCare<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s commonplace to see doctors having multiple screens and multiple monitors. In healthcare, these screens are not cheap. In the operating room, each of those monitors can be about $20,000. If you do the math, you can see it costs $40,000 to $80,000 compared to one Vision Pro,\u201d says Dr. Tommy Korn, chief spatial computing officer<\/a> at Sharp HealthCare.<\/p>\n

Korn explains that hospitals have been slow to update technological infrastructure, with many hospitals relying on the same tech as they did in the 1980s. Gadgets like tablets and smartphones are only just now starting to be widely adopted.<\/p>\n

The Vision Pro is appealing because it enables doctors to replace multiple monitors in operating rooms or when completing medical paperwork with relevant patient data. Radiologists, for instance, could also blow up scans into 3D models for better diagnoses instead of staring at 2D images. Surgeons could see patient data and augmented overlays to guide incisions, as opposed to printed paper instructions or multiple overhead monitors. You get the idea.<\/p>\n

For now, those are hypotheticals that Korn and other global health institutions are currently conducting feasibility tests for \u2014 a lengthy undertaking given that hospitals must adhere to higher regulatory standards than typical businesses for patient privacy and safety. Even so, the promise was compelling enough that Korn bought 30 Vision Pros for his hospital.<\/p>\n

But even the evangelists and enterprise users are clear-eyed about the challenges ahead. Comfort, fit, price, and lack of flexibility were all cited as major pain points.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually prefer to wear my Vision Pro with a rigid head strap called the Annapro,\u201d says Justin Ryan, an XR creator who runs Spatial Insider<\/a>. Ryan says he had to figure out his own way to make the headset wearable for longer durations, which includes forgoing the light seal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you get rid of the light seal, for people that are concerned about makeup, that helps alleviate those concerns. I don\u2019t have hair, so I\u2019m never worried about messing my hair up, but it\u2019s a very common thing for people when they say \u2018I don\u2019t know if I want to put this headset on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Some are also concerned about whether companies are willing to stick it out for the long haul. One of the biggest hurdles developers and businesses have is sussing out which companies are truly committed to the space \u2014 and which might discontinue a headset after a year or two.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad value and a worse investment. But that\u2019s not really what it\u2019s about to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest challenge right now is that it\u2019s still very much a niche market, far from being stable,\u201d says Tom Krikorian, a visionOS developer who creates enterprise-focused apps. \u201cApple is mostly known for doing consumer devices such as the iPhone, so I think there\u2019s a valid concern that they might just not invest more in the future of Vision Pro if it doesn\u2019t make \u2018very big\u2019 money.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the Galaxy XR headset and its Android XR operating system, Krikorian says developers are weighing whether Google can deliver. Google has a history of underinvesting and prematurely pulling the plug on projects, and developers will have to learn the ropes from scratch. \u201cI\u2019m definitely curious about it, but given my current clients, I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s going to be a hit for enterprise just yet,\u201d says Krikorian.<\/p>\n

But for some, it doesn\u2019t really matter if these headsets ever become mainstream.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bad value and a worse investment. But that\u2019s not really what it\u2019s about to me,\u201d says Ruby Voigt, an XR enthusiast. Voigt isn\u2019t a dev, but she keeps her Vision Pro on a shelf right under her Apple LISA computer. For her, getting a taste of the future and owning a piece of tech history is enough.<\/p>\n

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