PlayStation VR rakes in half a billion dollars in revenue

Not bad for first year sales

Virtual reality was never the storm some developers and VR enthusiasts were hoping for. Instead, if VR proves to be a staying technology, it’s one that will get better over the next 5+ years with iterative improvements with each new release.

That, however, doesn’t mean there hasn’t already been winners in the space, namely — and so far, only — Sony. Ben Lang on Road To VR with some back of the envelope math:

VR and AR intelligence firm Greenlight Insights estimates that Sony has sold 1.5 million PlayStation VR headsets through October 2017. The headset is sold in several different bundle configurations ranging, in the US at least, from the $500 Launch Bundle to the now discounted standalone headset at $290. Roughing out a $350 average selling price (which is conservative given the generally higher prices in Europe), we can estimate that Sony has pulled in some $525 million in hardware revenue. Software revenue on top of that stands to add considerably more.

Half a billion dollars isn’t a blockbuster number, nor is it one that could turn Sony’s fortune for better or worse. But as a business that’s yet to truly catch on with consumers, that’s not a bad return at all. Now imagine what Sony could gain if VR were to gain traction.

As it stands, they are better positioned than Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, and Facebook: something that’s not said that often about Sony.

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