Analysts claim Sony will sell six million PlayStation VR headsets this year

Now that we officially know the $399 price tag of the PlayStation VR  headset and a suggested initial availability date of October 13, the  reality of console-driven VR is almost officially here, the only real  question being, how successful will the product actually be?  After crunching all the numbers and throwing a few error-prone  statistical methods at the data, the Taipei-based Topology Research  Institute predicted Sony will sell a whopping six million VR units in  2016. This figure seems to be mostly based on the initial pre-sale event  held in Japan in mid June, which enjoyed high interest. If these sales forecasts hold true, the PlayStation VR will  effectively constitute 67% of the global VR HMD (Head mounted device)  market. Oculus Rift sales numbers for the same period are expected to be  around the 2.3 million mark, while prospects are even gloomier for  HTC's Vive, at only 700,000 units. On a grander scale, this all fits  into a sector-wide growth of 53.5% this year with a total of 9 million  VR units expected to end up in user hands. If current trends hold up,  there should be 50 million units in the wild by 2020.  As far as we are concerned, six million sounds a bit too ambitious,  but there are some pretty strong selling points for the PS VR. For many  people, this will likely be the most approachable and economic stepping  stone into the VR realm.   Not only is the $399 price tag more competitive than most rival  offers, but unlike the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, there is no need for a  powerful PC rig to provide the VR experience, just the PlayStation 4,  which is cheaper even if you don't own one already. However, it is worth  noting that $399 only buys you the head unit and necessary cables and  you will likely still want to pick up motion-tracking Move controllers  and a PlayStation Camera, which provide hand and body tracking  respectively.  Still, even with the add-ons, the total bill is still way lower ($499  launch bundle). Now, it is no secret that with a resolution of only  1080p, among other compromises, the PlayStation VR is an entrance-level  headset, compared to the aforementioned competition.   However as consoles have proven time and time again, they are  capable of providing a more affordable and user-friendly experience.  Plus there is the matter of game developer support, with a promise of 50  titles at launch and it will be even more interesting to see where  Microsoft takes the whole console VR scene, once Project Scorpio becomes  a reality next year.

 Via