Who is buying VR and XR headsets anyway?

Despite recent high-profile launches like Apple's Vision Pro and Samsung's Galaxy XR, VR and mixed reality headsets remain a niche market. Apple shipped only 400,000 Vision Pro units in 2024 compared to 1.2 billion smartphones globally, while Meta lost $4.4 billion on its Reality Labs division despite shipping 5.6 million headsets. The primary buyers are developers, businesses, and enterprise users who use the devices as expensive computer monitor replacements or specialized work tools in healthcare and programming where multiple screens are valuable.