It looks like PSVR 2 is not on track to meet its sales targets, at least according to one prominent VR analyst.
According to IDC VR analyst Francisco Jeronimo, it looks like it will only sell 300,000 units by the end of March 2023. IN quote (opens in a new tab) Bloomberg’s Takashi Mochizuki, Jeronimo explained why the PS5 headset might not work.
“Consumers around the world are facing rising costs of living, rising interest rates and rising layoffs,” says Jeronimo, “VR headsets are not the primary focus of most consumers in the current economic climate.”
Jeronimo also says a PSVR 2 price cut might be in order if Sony wants to “avoid total disaster”.
Exclusive: The Sony PSVR2 doesn’t fare well. IDC @fjeronimo expects to sell just 270,000 units by the end of March. “I suspect a PSVR2 price cut will be necessary to avoid total disaster,” he says. https://t.co/pzmNKsnTjIMarch 30, 2023
The report comes not long after Sony’s CFO Hiroki Totoki expressed his belief that PSVR 2 would surpass the five million units the company achieved with its original PlayStation VR headset.
Now it may be premature to throw doom and gloom on the PSVR 2 when it’s been on store shelves for just over a month. However, PlayStation VR for PS4 managed to sell nearly a million pieces (opens in a new tab) in the first four months of sales. Granted, the original headset was much cheaper and thus easier to come by, especially when compared to the staggering $549 / £529 / AU$879 that Sony’s latest VR headset costs.
Does PSVR 2 have a future?
I’m a big PSVR 2 fan, but I’m worried about its future if the above sales forecast comes true. When PS Vita similarly underperformed ten years ago, Sony quickly pulled the plug on a truly fantastic handheld. I hope PSVR 2 doesn’t suffer the same fate.
But it’s so easy to see why the PSVR 2 won’t meet Sony’s sales expectations. I’ve said this before, to the point where it sounds like a broken record, but it’s always going to be a hard sell when a VR headset costs even more than the console you’re buying it for. At the retail level, many consumers will see this and just turn away.
I agree that the PSVR 2 could use a price cut. It’s a fantastic headset, but it needs more room for development. Currently, apart from a few exclusive experiences such as Horizon: Call of the Mountain AND Gran Turismo 7‘S No VR component, no PSVR 2 library. At least compared to cheaper standalone headsets like Meta Quest 2 and Pico 4.