Shipments of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices totaled about 300,000 units in the Japan market in 2017, Digitimes Research has estimated.
For the next five years from 2018-2022, Japan's VR/AR device market is expected to grow a CAGR of 33.5%, which will be lower than the growth paces in the US and Europe, Digitimes Research estimates.
While related VR/AR applications have been seen in a number of sectors including traveling, retailing, manufacturing and medical treatments, user's acknowledgement and experience on VR/AR among the public in Japan still derive mainly from digital gaming.
Although the standalone VR devices have been introduced into the Japan market since May 2018, it remains to be seen if related VR/AR vendors would be able to attract more patronage from the non-gaming sector.
The adoption of VR/AR applications by enterprises in Japan remains low although vendors such as NEC and Fujitsu have released commercial VR/AR solutions with support of facilities, HMDs, computers and simulated content for applications including surveillance, firefighting, logistics and maintenance. Factors including pricing and comfortability will be crucial for Japan-based enterprises to decide whether to adopt AR/VR applications, Digitimes Research believes.
