Virtual Reality set to exceed $5 billion this year, despite Oculus Rift’s price

Let’s not beat around the bush – that Oculus Rift price that went live last night as pre-orders did was a little bit of a shock. Not only because Oculus themselves had most people expecting a price around the $400 mark, but also because many people suddenly questioned the viability of a product that expensive that can’t even work on its own. As with most things, that might just be a knee jerk reaction.

Or at least SuperData and their fancy projection algorithms seem to think so, with the company predicting that Virtual Reality as a business will rocket past $5.1 billion in 2016 alone – much of that thanks to Oculus. However, it’s less about the Rift and more about Oculus’ partnership with Samsung that could propel VR into the lives of thousands globally. SuperData suggests that over 70% of VR money will be generated thanks to GearVR and similar products, with the cheaper, more approachable solutions acting as the technology’s gateway drug for coming years.

The Rift isn’t predicted to be a failure at all, but in combination with the HTC Vive and PlayStation VR it isn’t expected to make wholesale transformations this year at least. SuperData reserves that for the years 2017 and 2018, where more consumers will be willing to spend money on technology that will have been proven by then. That, and the price will probably dip below the massive $600 mark that Oculus surprised everyone with yesterday.

It’s all (calculated) speculation, but it’s also important to consider how much money has been poured into VR over the past few years, especially Oculus. It might seem mysterious and scary at first, and a massive gamble on technology that hasn’t been proven yet. But just like most technology, 2016 might just be the early-adoption year for VR – with the next few really marking its arrival into mass consumer markets.

Last Updated: January 7, 2016