Samsung Electronics should dominate the virtual reality field this year

Tencent Technology News US investment website Fool.com recently published an article saying that Samsung Electronics has become a pioneer in the virtual reality industry. Although the performance of the company's Gear VR is not very prominent, it has a high cost performance and still has great potential for development this year.
The following is a summary of the article:
In 2014, Samsung Electronics launched its first virtual reality helmet, the Gear VR Innovator Edition. The product is not perfect and has a limited range of uses, which is destined to be difficult to achieve. In addition, the naming of this product also indicates that Samsung Electronics is not expecting it.
Subsequently, Samsung Electronics launched a new generation of Innovator Edition, which finally completed its final work in 2015, and launched the consumer-oriented version of Gear VR in November last year.
Although Samsung Electronics has not released any sales data, Gear VR seems to be successful. The product has won widespread praise in the market, and the time of late delivery usually reaches several weeks. Although Gear VR requires Samsung Electronics' mobile phone products to work together, this feature also makes the company's mobile phones stand out from the competition with other products.
However, Samsung’s quasi-monopoly position in this industry is coming to an end. Devices from several virtual reality manufacturers, including Facebook's Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive, and Sony's PlayStation VR, will all be available in 2016. With the entry of more high-end graphics cards and immersive games, Samsung Electronics' newly-started Gear VR devices may be completely outdated compared to these companies.
However, some people still think that this situation is unlikely to happen. Given that these vendors' new products face many challenges in their early popularity, Samsung Electronics' Gear VR should be the most reliable way for ordinary consumers to experience virtual reality, at least for the foreseeable future.
The cost
Facebook's virtual reality helmet, the Oculus Rift, will be available in March and will be the first virtual reality helmet on the market. HTC's Vive will be available in April, and Sony's PlayStation VR should meet consumers later this year.
With high-end graphics cards (such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive) and PlayStation 4 game consoles (such as PlayStation VR), these devices should far surpass Samsung Electronics' products in providing a virtual reality experience. Unlike Samsung Electronics' Gear VR, these devices are free of the limitations of smartphones. Gear VR uses most of the features of Samsung's electronic phones and displays.
However, the price of Gear VR is more affordable. The Gear VR retails for only $100, which is one-sixth the price of the Oculus Rift. The Oculus Rift is priced at $600, the price of a Galaxy S6 smartphone. HTC's Vive and Sony's PlayStation VR have not yet announced specific prices, but it is generally believed that the prices of these two products will not be cheap.
In addition, other costs of using virtual reality devices are a concern for consumers. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive require a computer with a fairly powerful graphics card that is not available to the average consumer. And if you need to buy, the cost is more than $1,000.
In fact, it is estimated that only 1% of the total number of computers used in this year will meet Oculus Rift and HTC Vive hardware requirements. The PlayStation 4 is clearly more popular. Sony announced earlier this month that it has sold 35 million PlayStation 4. However, the retail price of the PlayStation 4 has reached around $350, which is expensive for consumers. Gear VR requires a smartphone, but it is a must for many people.
Keeping the advantage Due to the price difference, Samsung Electronics' Gear VR is unlikely to compete with high-end products offered by Facebook, HTC or Sony. Users who purchase the products of these three companies may find that Gear VR is of little value. However, due to the high barriers to entry for these vendors, the competition between the two should be very limited.
Instead, the two should form a complementary relationship that fosters consumer interest in virtual reality products. Gear VR itself is a collaboration between Samsung Electronics and Facebook, and its well-designed app store is powered by Facebook's Oculus. Oculus head Palmer Luckey said in an interview with Business Insider, a well-known American technology media, that the company will continue to develop on Gear VR to meet the needs of a large number of Samsung mobile phone users.
For consumers interested in virtual reality, it is a good choice to choose Samsung Electronics' products when upgrading mobile phones, and to purchase a Gear VR device, at least in 2016.