44% growth surge forecast for AR/VR headsets

2023 shipments of AR/VR headsets fell 23.5% but are expected to grow 44.2% to 9.7 million units in 2024, says IDC, with sales driven by Apple’s Vision Pro and additional launches towards the end of the year.

VR headsets are forecast to reach 24.7 million units by the end of 2028, representing a five-year CAGR of 29.2%

AR headsets will grow from a smaller base of less than a million units in 2024 to 10.9 million in 2028, representing an 87.1% CAGR over the same period.

“Companies will increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence to analyse data and generate virtual content for the user,” says IDC’s Ramon Llamas, “display technology will move from content consumption to content interaction with more sophisticated sensors and displays.”