The Virtual Reality (VR) market in Education is expected to reach a CAGR of 42.5% over the forecast period of 2020 - 2025. VR technology has gained widespread recognition and adoption over the past few years. Recent technological advancements in this field have revealed new enterprises.

  • The market incumbents have been identified to adopt powerful competitive strategies, characterized by acquisitions, partnerships activities, a strong emphasis on R&D, and innovative activities. There are relatively higher numbers of firms in VR as compared to AR market space. Therefore, firm concentration is high. However, short product development cycles and relatively high barriers to entry are some of the factors affecting firms in this market.
  • In the current scenario, the low cost and higher availability of VR products have made it a significant threat to the AR & MR market. However, the limitations of its applications in the real world have restricted the market growth, particularly in commercial applications, which has reduced its threat of substitution to the market.
  • According to Bank of America, standalone Head-Mounted Displays (HMD) shipment across the globe is forecasted to be 14.5 million units in 2020, while in 2018, it was only 4 million units. Such an exponential increase in shipment of HMD is expected to augment the market during the forecast period.
  • The spread of the Covid-19 virus has disrupted many industries across the globe as lockdown has caused the total shutdown of businesses across industries. During the times of lockdown, technologies like AR/VR/MR are increasing in demand as they allow people to shop, talk, and socialize using these immersive platforms. These technologies are affordable and readily available. The software segment is witnessing an increase in demand, whereas the hardware segment is still suffering due to the unavailability of raw materials owing to the disrupted supply chain. However, Covid-19 is causing a shift in the way businesses, institutions, and others function due to mandates over social distancing, and hence the demand might increase in the long term.



Key Market Trends

Demand for interactive & personalized learning experience to Drive the Market Growth

  • Growing adoption of online education and the benefits of virtual learning environment such as flexible schedule, more individual accountability, mobility, student-centered learning, and others are driving the growth of the market. VR has the potential to replace paper physical models, posters, textbooks, printed manuals. It offers less expensive, and portable learning materials aiding education becomes more accessible and mobile.
  • In K-12 learning, Virtual and augmented reality help teachers engage students in content to assist them in retaining knowledge. By using a web-based portal, teachers can control and manage the headsets, plan lessons, and monitor student progress. Teachers can set points of interest on students’ headsets to direct them to certain parts of the teaching and may view thumbnail images of what each student is seeing.
  • Canada’s Queens University and SimforHealth have partnered with HTC to open a VR training facility for medical students to help them get the experience of real-time operations in an immersive VR environment. HTC Vive offers stimulation of a wide range of clinical situations in a VR environment.
  • Even though the VR market has witnessed robust demand from consumers, given its availability through devices such as HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR, and Samsung Gear VR, it has moved beyond being a niche market. To strengthen its position in the mainstream market, the VR players need to incorporate two essential features - convenience and control.



North America is Expected to Hold Major Share

  • The North American segment of the market studied is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period, owing to the presence of a large number of vendors, who are also investing hugely in market innovation, coupled with the dominance of the United States in the global software market.?
  • Globally, it is expected that the United States will be one of the highly innovative VR markets. Most of the companies advancing in this technology are based in the United States. High technology exposure and ease of availability of smart devices have created a strong VR market in the region. Microsoft researchers developed a new virtual reality system called DreamWalker, which allows users to walk through the real world while fully immersed in a virtual one. The system uses a mobile VR headset and an array of sensors to detect obstacles and adapt the digital scene to the surrounding environment as they go.
  • According to GSMA, the number of smartphone subscribers in North America is expected to reach 328 million by 2025. Moreover, by 2025, the region may witness an increase in the penetration rates of mobile subscribers (86%) and the internet (80%), the second-highest in the world. Increased device penetration will have a positive impact on the virtual reality market in the region.
  • The telecom companies in the region are aggressively making efforts to attract customers for using their 5G network. Hence, these regional vendors are investing and innovating the software and platform for the development of AR applications by leveraging the upcoming 5G technology. Events such as these will boost the growth of the market in the region.



Competitive Landscape

The virtual reality market in education is moderately competitive. Furthermore, research and development initiatives aimed at improving the quality, performance, and effectiveness of immersive virtual environments are projected to propel market demand in the years to come, which in return will increase the competition among the key vendors.

  • In February 2020, HTC introduced the complete VIVE Cosmos Series ?with three new products and three new modular faceplates that expand the functionality of VIVE Cosmos. Vive Cosmos is an adaptable premium PC-based VR system that can grow with customers over time by changing the front faceplate of the headset, all while delivering impressive visuals and comfort across the entire VIVE Cosmos line-up.
  • In September 2019, the virtual reality unit of Facebook called Oculus announced Facebook Horizon, described as "an ever-expanding VR world" where people can interact with others as digital avatars. Users will be able to add features and elements to the world, which Facebook said will be "constantly growing with extraordinary creations made by Horizon citizens."



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