Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK VR and AR Market Report 2023. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest VR market research, trends and consumer behaviours affecting your business. Get a 360° view of the market UK including VR and AR market size, share and forecasted growth to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Topics Analysed in this Report
- The impact of the cost of living crisis on value and volume sales of extended reality headsets.
- The latest innovations and potential impact of new entrants to the VR market.
- Consumer use of extended reality technologies.
- Interest in VR activities.
- Barriers to using VR headsets.
- Consumer attitudes towards extended reality technologies.
AR and VR Market Outlook
The income squeeze has limited spending on non-essentials, while inflation and rapid innovation have seen significant increases in the prices of VR headsets. The entrance of Apple to the market in 2024 will certainly drive interest, but the high price point will limit sales growth.
- VR and AR market size: Mintel estimates that the value of the AR and AR market size is £338 million.
VR Industry Trend and Opportunities
Demonstrate practical use cases for AR
There is an opportunity for brands to shift away from entertainment perceptions of AR and instead lean towards more practical applications to help introduce the technology to an older demographic Brand must raise awareness of this technology and the possibility of alternative applications such as visualising furniture, in-store AR mirrors and live translation via AR glasses.
- AR market trend: 34% of people believe wearing AR glasses will become normal in the future.
Expand VR arcades to capitalize on interest
Ownership of VR headsets has remained fairly stable in recent years. Despite this, people are finding other ways to use VR, particularly through the increasing number of VR arcades and events. With the latest headsets seeing major price rises, it could prove a real opportunity for arcades to expand and provide consumers with the chance to try out new headsets.
- VR industry trend: 19% of people have used a VR headset in the last year.
Purchase our UK VR and AR Market Report to receive a five-year forecast, consumer behaviour analysis, and recommendations for market opportunities. Readers of this report may also be interested in our UK Consumers and the Metaverse Market Report 2023, or our range of Technology Market Research.
Companies Featured in the Full Report
Apple, Vision Pro, Google Glass, Qualcomm, DNA VR, Meta, Quest, PlayStation, HTC, Xreal, Steam.
Expert Insights from a Technology Analyst
This report, written by Adrian Reynolds, a leading research analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight trends in the AR and VR market market and add expert context to the numbers.
The extended reality market continues to evolve but headset sales are struggling for growth. AR is reaching more people with more accessible practical use cases.
Adrian Reynolds
Principal Analyst
Collapse All
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- Key issues covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the VR and AR market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: market size for consumer VR and AR headsets, 2019-23
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 2: use of VR and AR technologies, 2023
- Graph 3: willing to spend on VR headset in the next 12 months, 2023
- Graph 4: barriers to using VR, 2023
- Innovations and marketing trends
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Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 5: market size for consumer VR and AR headsets, 2019-23
- Market forecast
- Market drivers
- Graph 6: ownership of VR headsets, 2018-23
- Graph 7: consumer awareness of the metaverse, 2022
- Graph 8: Google searches for the word “metaverse”, 2021-23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 9: CPI and CPIH inflation, 2016-23
- Graph 10: financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 11: financial confidence index, 2016-23
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What Consumers Want And Why
- Use of XR technologies
- Graph 12: use of VR headsets, by age, 2023
- Graph 13: use of AR technologies, 2023
- Graph 14: overall AR use in the last 12 months, by age, 2023
- Interest in VR activities
- Graph 15: interest in VR activities, 2023
- Graph 16: interest in VR gaming, by age, 2023
- Graph 17: interest in VR cultural experiences, by age, 2023
- Spending on VR headsets
- Graph 18: willingness to spend on VR headset over next 12 months, 2023
- Barriers to using VR
- Graph 19: barriers to using VR, 2023
- Attitudes towards VR
- Graph 20: attitudes towards VR, 2023
- Graph 21: agreement with “the release of Apple’s Vision Pro headset will be ground-breaking”, by age, 2023
- Graph 22: agreement with “VR will have a positive impact on how people interact with each other”, by age, 2023
- Graph 23: agreement with “access to the metaverse will encourage more people to buy AR/VR products in the future”, by age, 2023
- Attitudes towards AR
- Graph 24: attitudes towards AR, 2023
- Graph 25: agreement with “wearing AR glasses will become normal in the future”, by age, 2023
- Graph 26: agreement with “AR glasses will make in-store shopping more efficient”, by age, 2023
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Competitive strategies
- Launch activity and innovation
- Advertising and marketing activity
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Appendix
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
- Market forecast data and methodology
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