The ironically titled analyst outfit CCS Insight says that there are disappointingly low sales of smart glasses, but is foreseeing, or perhaps speculating, a new wave of growth.
CCS Insight claims that 22 million virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets will be sold this year, worth $1.8 billion in annual sales, a figure that will grow to 121 million units and $9.9 billion in sales in the next five years.
The VR and AR device market is expected to enjoy an average annual growth rate of 50 percent over the next five years, as a result, claims the market watcher.
CCS Insight senior wearables analyst George Jijiashvili said that virtual reality headsets had been the main source of growth in unit sales to date, and he was expecting this to continue, particularly with headsets that use a smartphone.
“However, we expect standalone headsets such as the Oculus Go and HTC Vive Focus to ignite a new wave of growth that will help broaden the appeal of virtual reality, particularly with businesses and in education”, Jijiashvili said.
Despite continued buoyant growth in VR headsets sales and an AR market that is seeing “billions of dollars” of investment, smart glasses have failed to pique the interest of customers – mainly among businesses – with CCS Insight estimating businesses purchased just 24,000 AR smart glasses in 2017.
But businesses are expected to move away from trialling the technology and towards broader deployment, according to CCS Insight, which predicts sales to reach a record one million units in 2022.
“We’re encouraged by the technology developments in smart glasses for consumers. Products such as Intel’s Vaunt glasses are a clear signal of the direction these devices are moving in, with a design little different from a pair of standard prescription glasses. It only takes a big company like Apple to jump into the market, and we could be looking at a market of millions of smart glasses in no time at all”, Jijiashvili foresees.
