Bad news for Apple and Meta: Kids are bored with VR goggles

Many young people aren’t using the VR headsets they own, according to a new Piper Sandler survey. DAVID SWANSON

• Virtual-reality headsets still are trying to prove their use case.
• You’d think teens would be early adopters of devices like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest.
• But a new Piper Sandler survey shows 56% of teen VR device owners rarely use them.

The vibes on Apple’s Vision Pro are mixed, at best: People like the tech but aren’t sure why they should use it, which is a problem for a device that sells for $3,500 and up.

But what about high-tech goggles that don’t cost that much, and do have things you can do with them — like play games?

Well, those have issues, too. On the one hand, people are buying them: As of 2023, Meta had sold more than 20 million of its Quest headsets, which start at around $500. But they’re not using them that much.

More specifically: Teenagers — the group you think would have the most time and inclination to monkey around with headsets — can’t be bothered to put on the devices they already own, according to a new survey from Piper Sandler.

Piper’s semi-annual report says that 33% of teens report owning a VR device of some sort. But 56% of them say they rarely use it — that’s up from 48% two years ago. (The firm surveyed 6,020 US teens with an average age of 16.1)

Piper Sandler

But if you’re a VR/AR/whatever device fan and you’re looking for someone to make lemonade out of this data, I’ve got something for you: Piper says its survey respondents expect to spend $225 on video games in the first half of 2024 alone.

Now, the trick is getting them to spend that money and time on a VR device instead of a console or their phone.

Good luck!

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