covering the week's top tech stories
with a slight linux bias facebook and
sony are preparing to increase
output of upcoming gaming cert devices
facebook's oculus the global leading
provider of virtual reality headsets by
market share
is eyeing growth of at least 50 percent
from a year ago for its latest version
of head-mounted vr devices
pushing production to two million units
meanwhile sony the world's number two
video game console maker after nintendo
by shipments has also raised production
orders for its upcoming playstation 5 to
around 9 million units
from the roughly 6 million units it had
planned earlier this year
the playstation 5 is the first
completely new generation of the console
in seven years
after sony launched the playstation 4 in
2013 and an upgrade in 2016.
facebook's move further underlines the
social networking giant's ambition to
further expand its footprint in the
emerging vr
market where it is the market leader
with around 35 percent market share
its first all-in-one vr gaming system
oculus quest
became a hit after it launched last may
compared with the cyclical and
relatively mature games console market
which is dominated by nintendo sony and
microsoft
market watchers said vr was still a
nation market where a lot of players are
trying new applications
but gaming is still the most important
segment
counterpoint senior analyst karen
shawhan said
during the pandemic the gaming industry
witnessed a record number of online
player additions as more consumers
are considering gaming for entertainment
at home facebook is looking to further
expand standalone vr which gives users a
more immersive experience than pc and
smartphone based vr headsets
the u.s company said in june it will
stop selling oculus go
its entry-level vr device which went on
sale in 2018
to focus on the oculus quest and rift
offerings its more powerful and high end
products
oculus rift s introduced in 2019 still
needs to be connected to a computer to
function
mark zuckerberg said in an earnings
conference earlier this year that the
company's revenue categorized as
others reached 297 million dollars for
the january march quarter
up 80 percent from a year ago which was
driven pri
primarily by sales of oculus products
the vr market is growing htc formerly a
leading smartphone maker
shifted its focus from headsets to vr
while sony launched its first
playstation vr in 2015.
google samsung electronics and huawei
technologies all introduce phone-based
vr headsets using smartphones as the vr
headset screens
apple has been working on augmented
reality technology for years and has
reportedly entered
trial production for an augmented
reality device recently
the worldwide shipment of all types of
vr devices last year was around 10
million units
facebook sony and htc together accounted
for 69 percent of the market
but excluding mobile vr which requires a
smartphone
the overall uh vr market shipped around
4.3
4.32 million units with facebook
shipping roughly 1.5
million devices
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