Virtual reality headsets for smartphones are dying if they’ve let large numbers of people explore this technology. However, they were so fashionable a few years ago that Orange even released its own model! At the time, their low cost compared to the very high cost of the first virtual reality headsets greatly contributed to their success. But now, standalone or PC virtual reality headsets are no longer reaching the inconvenient prices they once did. Thus, consumers are turning to these solutions rather than smartphone headsets.
History of prices
In any case, that’s the view shared by John Carmack, chief technology officer at Oculus. Last month, the person stated that the days of the Samsung Gear VR headset are numbered. However, Samsung has sold at least 5 million units of this device, which was released in 2014. The Korean giant did not make an official statement about the disappearance of the device, but the helmet is extremely rare on the market.
Likewise, Google is giving up its complementary VR headset for the Daydream View Pixel, which was released in 2016. But at the time, Google was hoping to get “hundreds of millions of users.” As a result, no current generation phones support it today. The company did not say a word about this during the introduction of the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL models and officially abandoned it. A company spokesperson admitted that the helmet did not deliver the expected success. He explains: “We saw a lot of potential in VR headsets for smartphones. […]. But over time, we realized clear limitations that prevented this type of VR from being a viable long-term solution.”
As a result, technical limitations prevented virtual reality headsets from establishing themselves as solutions for the future. They don’t provide the same feel as PC/console or standalone headsets like Oculus Rift, HTC Vive or PlayStation VR. However, the issue of prices is also an element that should be taken into account. Now a customer can get an Oculus Go for 219 euros. This greatly reduces the attractiveness and relevance of headphones for smartphones, which trade for around 60 to 100 euros.
