TrendForce: 14M virtual reality units in 2016, mainly used for gaming

TrendForce expects gaming will help drive virtual reality sales in 2016.

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The Apple Watch didn't give the wearables market a significant boost like some analysts hoped for, but there is plenty of great growth opportunity thanks to virtual reality. Even though there have been very few VR product launches this year, shipment volumes will reach 14 million units in 2016, according to TrendForce's Topology Research Institute (TRI).

TrendForce: 14M virtual reality units in 2016, mainly used for gaming | TweakTown.com

VR video games cost less to create than VR movies, and with the appeal of audiovisual in regards to VR, there is huge sales potential. Game developers have plenty of incentives, such as low cost and minimal time investment, to create VR game titles - and it seems like only a matter of time before VR-centric games hit the market.

"VR hardware's market positioning is clearer than smartwatches," said Jason Tsai, wearable device analyst at TrendForce. "Since VR device's strongest feature is providing users with an immersive audiovisual experience, its early application will be related to gaming."

For those of us waiting, it looks like plenty of options will be available: TrendForce points out products from Disney, HTC, NVIDIA, Oculus, Samsung and Sony - all major companies with deep pockets, actively engaged in VR.

An experienced tech journalist and marketing specialist, Michael joins TweakTown to cover everything from cars & electric vehicles to solar and green energy topics. A former Staff Writer at DailyTech, Michael is now the Cars & Electric Vehicles News Reporter and will contribute news stories on a daily basis. In addition to contributing here, Michael also runs his own tech blog, AlamedaTech.com, while he looks to remain busy in the tech world.

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