In 2019, Sony is expected to remain the top position in the virtual reality (VR) device market, accounting for around 37 percent of total shipments. The other major players in the VR device market are primarily large tech companies like Oculus (Facebook), HTC, and Microsoft, each of which account for a relatively significant portion of the total market share, but still lag far behind Sony in terms of total unit shipments.

The Virtual Reality Market

Alongside the hardware sector, which focuses on the manufacture and sale of VR devices, the industry also contains a growing software market that has evolved into a billion-dollar business in recent years. Developers from a wide range of industries are seeing the possibilities of VR and are eager to incorporate the technology into their businesses. Gaming companies seek to use VR for further immersion, while healthcare and engineering firms seek to use VR for training and modelling.

Virtual Reality Users

Although the technology is slowly becoming more popular, VR usage options are still somewhat limited and have not achieved the same levels of widespread use that some other consumer electronics devices have. Despite this, a significant portion of U.S.-based young adults state that they intend to purchase some sort of virtual or augmented reality device, and total worldwide mobile VR users are expected to exceed one hundred million in the near future.