Sony Betting Big on Next VR Headset With Increased Production Plan
Sony Group Corp. plans to make 2 million units of the PlayStation VR2 headset by March next year, people familiar with the matter said, setting an ambitious outlook that defies the global economic malaise.
Mass production of the virtual reality goggles began in September and hasn't yet faced supply chain constraints, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The production figure could be adjusted depending on the device's sales momentum once it's released early next year.
Shares in Sony rose 2.4% in Tokyo on Monday, in the stock's biggest jump in six weeks.
VR goggles remain a largely unproven category several years into the wide availability of commercial offerings from the likes of HTC Corp. and Oculus, now a part of Meta Platforms Inc. Sony's roadmap for the PSVR2 anticipates much greater popularity than the company's preceding PlayStation VR goggles for the PlayStation 4 -- which took eight months to reach a million sales. Meta's Quest 2, the most popular VR headset today, shipped 2.8 million units in its first quarter of availability, according to IDC figures.
Sony has yet to give an official price or release date for the PSVR2. Its current plan to start selling the headset in early 2023 will coincide with expected relief of the supply chain bottlenecks that have hampered availability of the PlayStation 5 console since its launch in late 2020, the people said. That would give the company sufficient inventory of both headsets and consoles for a big marketing push. Users will need a PS5 console to use the VR headset.
A spokesperson for Sony Interactive Entertainment declined to comment.
“A key to success is the quality of the games Sony will be able to develop,” said
Read more on tech.hindustantimes.com
