Photo Credit: Remy Gieling
A new report suggests American teens aren’t thrilled with the VR metaverse—just 4% report daily use of VR headsets.
According to a survey of 5,600 teens in America, VR ownership is relatively low compared to smartphones, too. Just 29% of those surveyed said they owned a VR headset, compared to 87% for smartphones. When asked about their usage habits, 14% of teens say they use their VR headset at least once a week while only 4% said they used it daily.
The interest in virtual reality worlds among teens appears to be declining, too. Only 7% of those surveyed who didn’t own a VR headset said they definitely planned to purchase one in the future. That’s compared to 52% who said they were unsure about VR or were simply uninterested in the technology.
The general attitudes toward VR among teens seems to reflect the general apathy of the public toward the technology. Despite billions of dollars of investment—VR remains an incredibly niche product. Teens can provide a barometer for which way tech is going but VR remains behind smartphones in terms of importance.
“To us, the lukewarm usage demonstrates that VR remains ‘early days’ and that these devices are less important than smartphones,” adds Piper Sandler analysts in their report. It showcases how virtual VR concerts aren’t the be-all-end-all solution many tech companies tout them to be.
Sales of VR headsets in the United States declined 2% year-over-year last year, according to NPD Group. Worldwide shipments of VR headsets declined 12% in the same year. Apple is expected to enter the virtual reality market with its own headset—perhaps sparking a VR revolution that Meta has not been able to achieve with its Oculus headsets.
“If one company has the ability to transform the VR market overnight, it’s Apple,” says Leo Gebbie, an analyst at CCS Insight. “With its hugely loyal fanbase, many of whom are comfortable with spending large amounts of money on technology, if Apple was to launch a headset, we expect that it would perform very well.”