Sony is said to have reduced its PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2) sales target after the number of customers during the preorder period did not meet expectations.
The Japanese company originally expected to ship two million PSVR2 units in one quarter, but has now brought that number down to one million units. PSVR2 itself will only be released to the public on February 22.
The reservation period for the VR headset has been open since last November 2022, and until now many shops are still accepting orders for the headset without waiting lists, even though the product will be released in the near future.
This is in stark contrast to the PlayStation 5, which has even experienced a long scarcity, or the Meta Quest 2 VR headset, which has made it difficult for Meta to meet market demand for these headsets.
There are several factors that may underlie the low order for this PlayStation VR headset. But the most influential factor seems to be compatibility. PSVR2 sells for USD 549, which is fairly reasonable for a VR headset, even cheaper than several VR headsets made by its competitors, such as Valve Index and HTC Vive Pro 2.
However, these two headsets have a far superiority compared to PSVR2 in terms of compatibility, which supports many different systems. While PSVR2 is only compatible with PS5. One analyst even called this headset just an expensive accessory for the PS5.
"PSVR2 is nothing more than an expensive accessory for PS5," said Damian Thong, analyst at Macquarie Capital.
For the period up to March 2024, Sony estimates that it will ship 1.5 million PSVR2 units to consumers. Meanwhile, IDC estimates that shipments of VR/AR headsets will grow 32% to 12.8 million units during 2023, and the market is dominated by various variants of Meta Quest, with an 85% market share.
By comparison, the first generation PSVR, which sold two million units in its first year, currently has less than 1% market share.
Maybe the timing for the release of PSVR2 is not quite right on the industry side, because currently the demand for VR devices is declining. For example, sales of Meta Quest 2 slumped after a $100 price hike in August 2022, and both Meta and Microsoft are reducing the number of their VR teams following major layoffs.
Even so, the future with AR/VR headsets is considered promising, as analysts predict revenue from the space will reach USD 7.3 billion in 2027, growing more than 50%, we were quoted as saying from The Verge, Wednesday (1/2/ 2023).