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Oculus Captures Half of XR Headset Market in 2020

London, San Diego, New Delhi, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Hong Kong – March 10, 2021

The Extended Reality (XR) headset shipments in 2020 declined 9% YoY, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Global XR Model Tracker. The decline was less than expected thanks to the Oculus Quest 2 performance during the holiday season. As a result, Oculus captured 53% of the XR market in 2020 as compared to 44% in 2019. The improved specs, like increased memory, larger battery life, and higher resolution and refresh rate, at an affordable price point were the clear drivers. The pandemic-triggered lockdowns also had a role here, pushing people to invest in content for entertainment and gaming, especially during the second half of 2020.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Research Director Peter Richardson said, “Virtual Reality (VR) headsets captured more than 90% of the total XR shipments. The adoption of VR, mainly for standalone form-factor, is increasing, as the industry is showing significant advancements in design, specifications and features at reasonable prices. Additionally, the availability of good quality content across platforms is growing. The users of VR are limited to the gaming community, but enterprise users from the education and training sector gained some interest during the pandemic.”

Commenting on brand performance, Senior Analyst Karn Chauhan said, “With a strong supply chain and brand value in the gaming segment, Oculus remained the biggest XR brand throughout 2020 by capturing half of the shipments. Sony grabbed the second spot riding on its strong PlayStation user base who went in for the five-year-old PlayStation VR. HTC, DPVR and Pico took the third, fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Enterprise-level sales deals, like for schools and training centres, helped Chinese players to grow in 2020.”

Oculus also dominated the list of top five XR devices. Three headsets in the list were from Oculus. However, the competition in this segment will increase in the coming years. One of the reasons this segment doesn’t witness new launches as frequently as some other categories is that it is more dependent on latest innovations in the overall component and supply chain, especially from the form-factor, display, power and sensor perspective. But the segment holds a big potential in the coming decade, as players like Apple and Sony (PSVR 2) will enter or scale up in this segment.

There are many current and potential enterprise and industrial use cases for XR. These include field force support, product design and development, construction and fabrication, manufacturing, logistics, education and training, media, healthcare and many more. We can, therefore, expect a steadily increasing trend towards enterprises and other organizations investing more in the development and use of XR devices and services.

Some players like Microsoft and Varjo have been taking a wider enterprise-level approach to target this segment. Microsoft now aims to enjoy wider adoption in the fast-growing consumer segment. This combined with Microsoft’s strong bases in major economies, which are the biggest enterprise-level consumers of XR devices and are likely to be the biggest consumer-segment buyers too, ensures the company’s continued growth in the XR industry.

XR’s consumer use can be subdivided into VR and AR. For VR devices, the strongest use case is gaming, although social interaction will provide an interesting niche. Consumer use of AR has thus far largely been confined to smartphone displays via applications.

We believe that XR will continue to show in double digit for the next five years.

Background:

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Peter Richardson

Karn Chauhan

Harmeet Singh Walia

Follow Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Podcast: XR – Where are We in Reality?

When first introduced, eXtended reality (XR) appeared like a futuristic concept. But after years of research and development, the technology is now accessible to consumers and enterprises. Yet, XR is having a hard time transitioning from a fantasy concept to something that is more practical and generates revenue. But the recent launch of the Oculus Quest 2 does make us feel a little optimistic about the technology. It is built on Qualcomm’s XR2 platform, which offers new levels of power to the standalone virtual reality (VR) headset.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world around us. People are working from home, and students learning from home. With more time being spent at home, activities like gaming are becoming popular. While standalone gaming can be one of the key drivers for the XR platform, XR being all about offering users with an immersive experience, learning too can be fun with it. Virtual and augmented reality (AR) can help explain scientific topics like the universe in an exciting way. Further, it can even benefit the manufacturing and healthcare sectors among many other possibilities.

In the latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, host Peter Richardson is joined by Research Analysts Karn Chauhan and Harmeet Singhwalia to share their perspectives on eXtended reality. They discuss the current developments in the XR industry, limitations and future expectations, besides going into questions like how will XR benefit from 5G, and will the rumored Apple glasses be the inflection point that the XR industry needs for mass adoption. All this and more in the podcast below.

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iPhone XR was the Top-Selling Model Globally in Q3 2019

According to Counterpoint Research’s Market Pulse, the iPhone XR was the top-selling model globally in Q3 2019, capturing 3% market share. In fact, except for the launch quarter in September 2018, iPhone XR has been the top-selling model globally in every quarter since Q4 2018. The XR alone contributed to over one-quarter of the total Apple sales during the quarter, making it the bestselling model for Apple across all regions. Apple also adjusted the price of the iPhone XR in China and several other markets, which helped keep demand strong during the quarter. The iPhone 11 also made its debut in the top 10 within the launch quarter.

Exhibit: 2019Q3 Global Smartphone Top 10 Model Sales Market Share

Samsung had 3 models in the top 10, all from the A series. Samsung discontinued its J series and brought the A series to lower price tiers. A series had a more premium perception than the J series. The new devices came with competing specs and design features, affordable price and Samsung’s strong brand perception (especially in the mid-segment) which provided an excellent value proposition to consumers. This was also strategically aligned with global trade-up trend. The A-series also gained some share from HONOR. However, there were no flagships from Samsung in the top 10 list.

OPPO also had 3 devices as the A series continued to do well in China and other regions. A9, A5s, and A5 became the hero models in the slim portfolio of OPPO. Huawei P30 featured in the top 10. The device also comes with Google Mobile Services, which makes it relevant for users outside China as well. However, going forward, in the absence of GMS, Huawei devices might slip out of the top 10 models. Xiaomi had Redmi 7A in the top 10. This was driven by India, which contributed to over half of the total sales of the model during the quarter.

The volume contribution in total sell-through for the top 10 models combined, increased by 9% YoY to capture 17% of the total sales compared to 15% in Q3 2018. However, the combined wholesale revenue of the top 10 models declined 30% YoY. This is because the mix of mid-tier devices in the top models is increasing. There were five flagship devices in the top 10 in Q3 2018 but only three this year. And part of the reason for this is the improving capabilities of devices in the mid-tier over the last year. Premium segment features are trickling down to the mid-segment at a faster rate. In fact, in some cases, smartphones in the mid-tier segment are now equipped with features that were absent in some premium segment products as recently as a year ago. For example, Samsung’s Galaxy A50 features a triple camera (25MP – 8MP – 5MP), 25MP front camera, 6.4 inch display and an in-display fingerprint sensor, while the Samsung Galaxy S9, the flagship from a year ago had a single 12MP rear camera, 8MP front camera, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a 5.8 inch screen. Mid-tier devices therefore often offer an excellent value proposition compared to older flagship models.

However, the increased mix of mid-tier products has also led to the fall in revenues for key smartphone OEMs during the quarter. The overall global handset profits declined 11% YoY during Q3 2019. Going forward, as 5G deployment gains further momentum, we will likely see 5G variants of devices in the top 10 models. However, the mid-tier models will likely continue to gain momentum.

The detailed analysis for top selling models by Revenue can be found here

XR2 5G platform- Extended reality’s pivotal moment

Qualcomm launched the world’s first 5G XR platform during the annual Snapdragon tech summit, XR2. This is in addition to the XR1 platform which now has more than 30 devices in the market. The XR series are dedicated chips for eXtended Reality (XR) devices. These have had moderate success so far, mostly due to the limitations of the XR market, but true immersive experiences need a solid connectivity platform.

The ecosystem is expanding and over the past two years, we have seen devices launched by different partners with use cases across both consumer and enterprise segments. The chart from Qualcomm’s presentation highlights participants in the overall XR ecosystem.

Source: Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2019

With a faster tech transition from 4G to 5G on the horizon, the XR2 5G platform is a good move by Qualcomm to enable next-generation features and immersive experiences that demand ultra-low latency with great audio and visual level customizations. In such a scenario the XR2 5G platform brings significant performance improvements over the XR1. These performance improvements include 2X the CPU and GPU performance, 4X more video bandwidth, 6X higher resolution and 11X AI improvements. Additionally, the Snapdragon XR2 platform is also the world’s first to support seven concurrent cameras and a dedicated computer vision processor. This opens up the possibilities of different use cases, especially in the enterprise segment. The XR2 supports high graphics rendering, support for 8K 360 degree videos at 60fps and a custom silicon built to reduce latencies for immersive visual experiences. In audio, XR2 offers voice activation and context detection for certain use cases.

Source: Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit 2019

Qualcomm said that it will maintain first generation XR platform, for now. We expect that Qualcomm will opt for a tiered approach, with XR1 targeting basic use cases within the entry to mid-tier products and XR2 5G powering premium devices.

We expect the first wave of XR2 devices will be in the enterprise segment. Manufacturing, industrial and gaming will lead when it comes to applications where 5G’s role will be critical in providing real immersive experiences. However, this category of devices will demand a strong push initially from ecosystem partners as its value lies in the experience. This holds true both for enterprise and consumer segments. Developers, hardware vendors, and operators will be watching this space closely. Niantic’s partnership with Qualcomm during the event for AR glasses is an indication that many partners are ready to adopt a platform powered by 5G that opens up a whole new set of possibilities.

POST EVENT COVERAGE: DAY 3 SNAPDRAGON TECH SUMMIT :: XR2 5G platform and always connected PC (ACPC)

Qualcomm made a lot of noise in the always-on-always connected (ACPC )PC space at the Snapdragon Summit Day 3 . The key selling points remain the same: LTE or 5G, multi-day battery life, Windows 10 support, enterprise-grade security, and AI accelerating the experiences.

New to space is Qualcomm now has three platforms which will help OEMs better differentiate their hardware and also hit a much larger range of price tiers.

The 7c compute platform is the entry of the three unveiled. It is built on the 8nm manufacturing process. The 7c should hit impressive price points as low as $300 and has the goal of the computing power of entry PCs. This is substantial price erosion and should be much more interesting for students or those on a tight budget than first-generation ACPCs.

In past years, gaming was not even mentioned. With the power and software improvements, light gaming is now supported. 4k HDR video capture @30 frames per second are also supported in the entry offer. The platform’s cellular connectivity supports Cat13 up to 150Mbps.

The 8c compute platform is built on 7nm process technology. Relative to the 7c, GPU and CPU are more powerful yet battery life is not negatively affected; 6+ trillion operations per second (TOPs) are supported. The chip is testing 30% faster than last year’s platform. Cellular connectivity supports Cat20 LTE, 256-QAM, 4x4MIMO, carrier aggregation (aka Gigabit LTE). The platform supports two 4k displays at 4k ultra HD. Qualcomm QuickCharge is also a feature. Prices of hardware with the 8c compute platform inside should be in the $500-$800 range.

The 8cx compute platform is the premium of AOAC PCs. It also has a Snapdragon X55 modem—meaning 5G is supported.8cx is the premium platform and hardware using the 8cx are expected to have a point-of-sale cost of $1000 and more. GPU and CPU performance is advertised as 60% more power-efficient than the Snapdragon 850.5G FDD, TDD, SA, NSAs, sub6, and mmWave is all supported. Or, as Qualcomm describes it, ‘real 5G’.

The sector should see growth with the new, lower price tiers. Look for more OEMs to be supporting AOAC PCs in 2020

Qualcomm also launched the world’s first 5G XR platform during the annual Snapdragon tech summit, XR2. This is in addition to the XR1 platform which now has more than 30 devices in the market. The XR series are dedicated chips for eXtended Reality (XR) devices. These have had moderate success so far, mostly due to the limitations of the XR market, but true immersive experiences need a solid connectivity platform.

XR2 5G platform brings significant performance improvements over the XR1. These performance improvements include 2X the CPU and GPU performance, 4X more video bandwidth, 6X higher resolution and 11X AI improvements. Additionally, the Snapdragon XR2 platform is also the world’s first to support seven concurrent cameras and a dedicated computer vision processor. This opens up the possibilities of different use cases, especially in the enterprise segment. The XR2 supports high graphics rendering, support for 8K 360 degree videos at 60fps and a custom silicon built to reduce latencies for immersive visual experiences. In audio, XR2 offers voice activation and context detection for certain use cases

Overall Qualcomm, during the 2019 Snapdragon summit managed to unveil some powerful platforms. With 5G all set to penetrate faster in 2020, Qualcomm will be betting big on 865 and 765 platforms. Additionally, XR2 5G along with 7C, 8C, and 8CX opens up new opportunities in coming years

Apple iPhone XR Was the Top-Selling Smartphone in the US during February

Counterpoint’s US smartphone churn tracker shows 20% of Apple iPhone XR users were previously using an iPhone 7
The iPhone XR also converted the most Android users among iPhones, the majority being previous Samsung Galaxy S7 users

San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul

April 17, 2019

The iPhone XR was Apple’s best-selling smartphone in February, according to Counterpoint’s monthly US smartphone churn tracker. The XR was responsible for more than 26% of all iPhone sales during the month. The majority of XR buyers previously used the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone XS Max contributed 13% of Apple iPhone sales and was the second-best-selling smartphone in the US during the month. Previous iPhone 7 Plus and 8 Plus users were the majority of the XS Max buyers.

Source: Counterpoint Research – Smartphone Churn Tracker February 2019

Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director at Counterpoint Research commented, “iPhone 7 Plus owners upgraded to the XS Max more often as they replaced their two-year-old devices with the newest, most expensive model. There were also iPhone 8 Plus users who were most likely upgrading due to their yearly upgrade programs. Overall, many older iPhone users are coming from the most expensive iPhone that was previously offered.”

Fieldhack further added, “The XR is converting a different type of iPhone user. Previous iPhone 7, 6s, and 6 users make up over 46% of sales for the XR when looking at iPhone to iPhone churn. The purchase decision by these users is likely less driven by performance and more influenced by value offerings. The iPhone XR also created the most the churn from Android to iOS. The majority of Android switchers to the iPhone XR were previously using the Samsung Galaxy S7. On the other hand, the majority of iOS users who switched to Android were iPhone 7 users. Samsung Note 9 was the most purchased Android device by previous iPhone 7 users.”

In terms of carriers, the iPhone helped Verizon take away share from AT&T. Verizon dominated sales of iPhone XR and XS smartphones in February. More than 28% of XR and 35% of XS device sales came from Verizon while AT&T sold the most XS Max smartphones with a 31% share of total sales.

Maurice Klaehne, Analyst at Counterpoint Research said, “Verizon capitalized on its buy one get one free promotion in February for new iPhones. For switchers to Verizon, 30% of iPhone XR and 43% of iPhone XS sales were from previous AT&T customers. Conversely, at AT&T where the iPhone XS Max was the most purchased phone, an equal number of switchers were coming from T-Mobile and Verizon at 24% of sales each. Overall, Verizon benefited in this exchange. However, Verizon has now gone back to their regular $300 off offer with a new line and qualifying trade-in so this trend may not continue in the next months.”

This is an excerpt from our smartphone churn tracker service across different geographies providing highly detailed insights and analysis – answering the why, backed by a solid granular sales database mapped across different carrier channels.

Background:

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in detailed industry analysis of the TMT sectors. It services major technology firms and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analysis of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the industry with an average tenure of over 15 years in high tech industries.

Analyst Contacts:

Jeff Fieldhack

+1 858 603 2703

jeff@counterpointresearch.com

Maurice Klaehne

+1 917 679 4038

maurice@counterpointresearch.com

Follow Counterpoint Research

press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Overall iPhone Sales Down 20% YoY In November; iPhone XR Became the Best-Selling Model

iPhone XR became the best-selling iPhone model in November 2018. In contrast, last year in November the more expensive iPhone X was the best-selling model with almost 50% higher volume compared to the iPhone XR in November this year. The overall sales of new iPhones took a hit in November due to slower sales of the series in the Asia Pacific region (excluding China and India), Europe and US. The decline in the US and Europe is due to the lengthening replacement cycle and decreased operator discounts this year during the launch of new iPhones. While the decline in emerging markets like the Asia Pacific (excluding China and India) is due to the higher price when compared to offerings from Chinese players.

Key points from our monthly model tracker service below:

Sale of new iPhones (XR/XS/XS MAX) launched in November were down over 20% YoY compared to last year’s launches (8/8 Plus/X).
The iPhone XR series outsold XS and XS Max series, iPhone XR 64 GB became the best-selling iPhone during the month.
iPhone XR sales, when compared to iPhone 8, were down 5%, both being the cheapest new iPhone available during the month of their respective launches.
Similarly, iPhone XS, when compared to iPhone 8 Plus, was up 3% YoY. iPhone XS Max, when compared to iPhone X during the same month last year, shows a 46% decline in sales. However, cumulative sales of iPhone XS Max were 50% higher till November than that of iPhone X last year due to the early availability of the higher priced models this year.
We estimate iPhone XR to further eat into the share of higher-priced iPhone XS and XS Max during December 2018.
Sales in China during November were steady due to the popular 11.11 (Single’s Day) sales. Even then, sales of iPhone XR remained lower than expected due to a lack of innovative features and just one camera. And while it’s the cheapest new iPhone, it still is expensive compared to local competitor products.
China iPhone sales in December will be down partly due to the ongoing trade war between US-China and Chinese companies encouraging employees to buy smartphones from Chinese OEMs.
We are also expecting an increase in sales of older iPhone models like iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 in emerging markets due to the high price of newer models.

For regular updates on Apple iPhones, other smartphone and emerging technology-related insights please register on our research website (click here).

Mobile XR : The Future of Extended Reality (AR/VR/MR)

The next generation of connectivity (5G, WiFi 6, 802.11ay) is poised to enhance the way we interact with the current crop of devices. Extended Reality – XR (VR/AR/MR) is one such technology that will benefit from the introduction of 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The present generation of XR devices requires either a smartphone or a powerful PC to deliver some level of immersive experiences. This experience sometimes is limited as the smartphone alone is not powerful enough to deliver a truly immersive experience and connecting with a PC requires it to be tethered with a wire, sometimes creating a barrier for the immersive experience. Though we are seeing standalone XR devices beginning to proliferate but most of these devices are bulky, power hungry as most of the processing is concentrated or centralized. The standalone “Mobile XR” has tremendous potential not only to interact or consumer immersive content but also to create. However, there needs to be some technical breakthroughs which can drive sleek, ultra-lightweight XR devices form-factor which can offer powerful XR experiences more efficiently.

New Technologies: 5G & AI

At the 4G/5G Summit 2018, Qualcomm showcased a concept XR technology that it has dubbed “Boundless XR”, a photorealistic Mobile XR over 5G. A 5G capable XR device with a powerful processor and augmented by edge cloud computing.

Exhibit: XR Device with 5G connectivity and augmented edge cloud infrastructure.

Source: Qualcomm

A powerful processor will enable the XR device to have on-board processing capabilities, eliminate the need for it to be tethered to a PC.
Connectivity over 5G will provide a reliable and low latency link to the cloud infrastructure delivering high-quality content to the device.
A third significant feature in the XR ecosystem will be the deployment of edge cloud for faster computing. The edge cloud also improves the overall network efficiency and improves the availability of content to users as and when they need it.
High-speed connectivity and processing power together will be able to deliver the XR experience with better and immersive content, further overcoming the limitation of the present XR devices.
Further, on-device + cloud-based AI can drive the fluidity of the overall XR experience with better optimization of sensors, image stabilization, object detection, semantic segmentation and so forth

New Techniques: Split Rendering

Exhibit: Split Rendering - Distributed XR Workloads Processing for More Efficient Form-Factors .

Source: Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit

This creates an opportunity for new players to enter the XR ecosystem, especially the network operators that missed out on the cable TV revolution. For starters, the content will be delivered over the 5G network and will require a reliable connection from a network provider. In addition, network operators can monetize their investment in 5G by providing the edge cloud infrastructure that will host content. It will also allow the device to have better rendering by splitting complex computation between the servers and the XR device itself. Faster and robust connectivity will further content providers like NextVR delivering live entertainment and online gaming companies to engage the user with-in the ecosystem.

Silicon and system level, players such as Qualcomm are working on specific technologies like Split Rendering, 5G and on-device AI which should remove a number of barriers for XR devices to take off. However, this technology is still in its nascent stage and will only mature once there is a robust 5G infrastructure in place.

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Coverage: XR 360

Oculus Captures Half of XR Headset Market in 2020

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Podcast: XR – Where are We in Reality?

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XR2 5G platform- Extended reality’s pivotal moment

POST EVENT COVERAGE: DAY 3 SNAPDRAGON TECH SUMMIT :: XR2 5G platform and always connected PC (ACPC)

Apple iPhone XR Was the Top-Selling Smartphone in the US during February

Overall iPhone Sales Down 20% YoY In November; iPhone XR Became the Best-Selling Model

Mobile XR : The Future of Extended Reality (AR/VR/MR)

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