IDC: XR market declines 21% in 2022, Meta leads the VR segment, Nreal on top of the AR segment

2022 was a tough year for the AR/VR market as global shipments dropped sharply to 8.8 million units for the full year – down 20.9% compared to 2021, according to data by IDC. The analysts say that the drop was expected as this is a fledgling market and certain global events have massive effects on it (both positive and negative).

In 2021 the pandemic had a lot of people stuck at home with disposable cash, which was an opportunity for VR and AR headset makers. It also helped that increasing prices of electronics components and logistics hadn’t hit with full force yet, so the likes of the Meta Quest 2 was still $300 – that price rose to $400 last year (note: this is for the 128GB model, the 256GB one was $500 but its price was reduced to $430 a few days ago).

The Meta Quest 2

For now there is a pretty strong division between headsets that can do VR and headsets that can do AR. There are some “Mixed Reality” headsets too, which are able to combine AR and VR. These so-called “XR” headsets include the Meta Quest Pro and the HTC Vive XR Elite, which cost $1,000 and $1,100, respectively, quite a bit more than headsets that focus on one or the other.

Meta holds around 80% of the overall VR/AR market, ByteDance (yes, the company behind TikTok) is a distant second with 10% after it acquired Pico. The other companies in the Top 5 are DPVR, HTC and iQIYI. Sony launched its new PSVR 2 headset last month and the company claims that there will be no supply issues, so we’ll see how much of the VR market it can capture.

The market of pure AR glasses is quite different – there Nreal dominates with nearly 100K shipments last year. Here is the Top 5 of AR glasses:

• 1. Nreal – 98,000
• 2. Microsoft – 35,000
• 3. Rokid – 30,000
• 4. TCL – close to 30,000
• 5. Epson – 13,000

Note that Nreal was sixth in the overall VR/AR market, which is mostly focused on VR at the moment.

“While Meta and ByteDance duke it out in the VR segment, Nreal has been able to slowly grow its presence by appealing to mobile gamers,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager, Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers at IDC. “Though it’s still early days for AR and VR, Meta has been able to build a moat for itself through its various first- and third-party content. This is where other players such as Sony and potentially Apple can provide meaningful competition though in the long run it’ll put pressure on others including ByteDance and Nreal.”

Nreal’s offerings include the Air AR glasses, which currently go for $380 on Amazon. These are fairly lightweight and look a lot like regular sunglasses. The Air has a 3,840 x 1,080px OLED display and creates an image equivalent to a 130” display at 4m/13ft (46° FOV with 49 pixels per degree).

Nreal Air AR glasses

The Nreal Air are offload the processing to an external device – you can use them for gaming on the go with a Nintendo Switch or a Valve Steam Deck. Alternatively, they can be an additional display for a PS5 or Xbox Series X at home.

They work with Android phones too through the Nebula app and there is a beta version for Macs that uses the glasses’ 6DoF tracking to create multiple virtual displays around the wearer.

The Nreal Air AR glasses can be used for gaming, video streaming and as multiple virtual monitors

“At Nreal, we’re proud to have led the way in driving innovation and growth in the AR industry by creating AR glasses that represent the next generation of computing interfaces,” said Chi Xu, Founder, and CEO of Nreal. “Our mission has always been to create AR technology that’s user-friendly and intuitive, and we are excited to continue advancing innovation in the AR industry as we redefine how people live, work, and play.”

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