IDC Releases Q1 Global XR Market Share Rankings: Meta Maintains LeadingPosition

In mid-June, IDC published its "Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality

Headset Tracker" report, showing that the global AR/VR headset market experienced strong growth in the first quarter of 2025, with year-over-year growth of 18.1%.

In terms of market share by vendor, Meta held a dominant position with 50.8%,

representing a 65.9% increase compared to the previous year. Following Meta,

XREAL secured second place with a 12.1% market share, up 57.6% year-over-year.

IDC attributes XREAL’s success largely to the strong performance of its One series

AR glasses, which saw significant shipment growth and helped the company clinch

the runner-up spot.

ByteDance ranked third with a 9.4% share, declining 4.3% year-over-year. VITURE

came in fourth, boasting a remarkable 268.4% growth to capture 6.2% of the

market—the largest year-over-year increase among the top five vendors.

TCL ranked fifth with a 4.2% share, posting a strong 91.6% growth year-over-year.

Although its growth was lower than VITURE’s, TCL’s performance remains impressive.

Interestingly, aside from Meta—the only U.S.-based company in the top five—all

other leading vendors are Chinese firms. Sony and Apple fell out of the top five

rankings this quarter, primarily due to distributors maintaining large inventories,

meaning products did not sell through as expected.

Looking forward, IDC forecasts a significant shift in the AR/VR landscape. Pure

Virtual Reality (VR) shipments are expected to decline sharply, while Mixed Reality

(MR) and Extended Reality (ER) are poised to become dominant forces. MR

shipments are projected to grow from 3.3 million units in 2025 to over 15.2 million

units by 2029. This forecast has been slightly adjusted downward due to U.S. tariff

impacts and supply chain changes. Meanwhile, ER shipments are expected to surge

from 2.2 million to 8.6 million units during the same period. Augmented Reality (AR)

is also predicted to steadily increase, reaching 457,000 units by 2029.

IDC emphasizes that despite an expected 12% decline in total VR shipments in 2025

due to delayed product launches, the market is set for a robust rebound in 2026 with

an 87% increase, surpassing the pandemic peak of 11.2 million units. Between 2025

and 2029, the AR/VR headset market is projected to grow at a compound annual

growth rate (CAGR) of 38.6%.