Global VR market to reach £3.5bn in sales in 2016 – report

Virtual reality is almost upon us now, and research firm SuperData reckons that the market for the new tech will reach $5.1bn (3.5bn) by the end of the year.

That’s according to the company’s ‘Virtual Reality Market Brief‘, which also predicts that the install base of VR in 2016 would be 55.8m consumers globally.

In its report, the firm also says mobile will drive adoption of VR, with consumers experimenting with smartphone virtual reality – such as Samsung’s Gear VR – before forking out for a more expensive VR headset.

This low barrier to entry will allow for the tech to reach 71 per cent of the consumer market next year.

SuperData also breaks down where the $5.1bn will be coming from.

The company predicts that Europe will be the biggest VR market, representing $1.9bn (1.3bn), with North America contributing $1.5bn (1bn). Meanwhile Asia’s VR sector is expected to reach $1.1bn (751m), with the rest of the world splashing $0.6bn (410m) on virtual reality this year.

In addition, SuperData’s research says that 18 to 54 year-olds would be willing to spend around $280 (191) on VR hardware.

This report comes on the day that pre-orders open for Oculus’ Rift headset.