After two years of decline, the AR/VR headset market bounced back in 2024 with global shipments growing by 10%, according to new information from IDC.
Meta remained the undisputed leader, holding a 74.6% market share, while Apple (5.2%), Sony (4.3%), ByteDance (4.1%), and XREAL (3.3%) rounded out the top five. Only Meta and XREAL saw year-over-year growth, thanks to new products and a focus on gaming. Both companies also pushed up average prices by offering more premium devices.
2024 saw major releases like Apple’s Vision Pro, Meta’s Quest 3/3S, and ByteDance’s Pico 4, driving commercial demand up by 14.9%. Developers flocked to Apple and Meta for mixed reality experiences, while businesses scaling deployments leaned into Quest and Pico headsets. Meta’s push into education also paid off, with the sector growing by a staggering 69.4%.
But the momentum may not last. IDC predicts a 12% drop in shipments for 2025, partly due to delayed releases from key players. However, a major rebound is expected in 2026, with 87% growth pushing volumes past the pandemic peak of 11.2 million units set in 2021. Long-term, IDC forecasts a 38.6% annual growth rate between 2025 and 2029.