Sony is drastically cutting its sales expectations for next month’s launch of the PlayStation VR2 headset a Bloomberg report citing “persons familiar with [Sony’s] consultations.”
The PlayStation 5 maker now expects to sell just one million PSVR2 units by the end of March, versus sales expectations of 2 million units over the period. as reported last October. According to the report, Sony expects to sell about 1.5 million more headsets in the following fiscal year, which ends in March 2024.
The reduced sales expectations would put the PSVR2 slightly ahead of the pace of the original PSVR headset that sold almost a million units in the first four months and 2 million units in just over a year. But that kind of sales pace looks less impressive today, when a headset like the Meta Quest 2 can sell 2.8 million units in the first quarter, according to market analysis firm IDC, on its way to total sales of over 15 million.
The Quest 2 has some key advantages when competing with Sony’s upcoming headset, including a $150 lower price tag, even after a recent price increase. The self-contained Quest 2 also doesn’t need to be tethered to any external hardware, unlike the PSVR2’s reliance on a connection to a $499 PlayStation 5.
Despite Quest 2’s success at its relatively low price point, the VR industry in general seems to be moving toward the higher end of the price spectrum these days. Metas Quest Pro launched last October at a staggering price of $1,499, despite having a week-long sale lowered that price by $400 for the moment. And next month’s standalone Vive XR Elite will do it comes at a price of $1,099.
Finally, the first PSVR headset
sold at least 5 million units
to a base of 106 million PS4 owners at the end of 2019. If the PSVR2 sells at the same rate, that would equate to just 1.4 million sales versus the current crop of roughly 30 million PS5 owners (although both sales figures are expected to remain the same ). increase over time, especially now that the PS5 should be easier to find on store shelves).
Add in a launch lineup that includes many rehashed VR titles ported from other platforms, and the PSVR2 seems poised to once again be more like Sega’s niche CD than a strong and self-sufficient platform in its own right. Or, as Macquarie Capital analyst Damian Thong told Bloomberg, “The PSVR2 will be nothing more than an expensive accessory for the PS5.”
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