Though it’s Facebook’s newest headset, Oculus Quest may be the company’s most popular so far, at least as far as search volume is concerned. Kicking off the holiday shopping season on Black Friday, Quest dominated other VR headsets in search interest in the US. Worldwide, Quest tied with PSVR, the longstanding leader in holiday shopping search volume.

Relative Search Volume Among VR Headsets

When it comes to the most-searched-for headsets, there’s been three clear leaders during the 2016, ’17, and ’18 holiday shopping seasons: PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. Released earlier this year, Oculus Quest has entered the fray and made a big splash. According to Google Trends, Quest dominated search interest in the US over Black Friday weekend which marks the start of the holiday shopping season.

US search volume, Black Friday weekend 2019 | Data courtesy Google

Peak search volume for Quest in the US was 1.6 times that of the next nearest headset, PlayStation VR, 2.9 times Oculus Rift, 5 times HTC Vive, and many times greater than other headsets like Valve Index, Oculus Go, Pimax, and Samsung Odyssey.

Worldwide search volume, Black Friday weekend 2019 | Data courtesy Google

When it comes to peak worldwide search volume over Black Friday weekend (which factors in PSVR’s significant popularity in Europe), Quest was nearly tied with PlayStation VR, both of which significantly led Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and others by 2 times or more.

Most searched for headsets by region, Black Friday weekend 2019 | Data courtesy Google

What Can be Concluded from Search Volume?

Search volume is an interesting metric, but there’s too many variables at play here to determine which headset has actually sold best over the holiday period. For one, the data only includes searches through Google (though this covers 93% of all searches, according to StatCounter), and search volume is of course quite susceptible to marketing. So while we can see which headsets were the most popular in terms of searching, we can’t be sure how much of the volume is organic versus influenced by the amount of marketing money spent by Oculus, Sony, or others. We also don’t have a good way of knowing the rate at which searches actually convert to sales.

Among the leading headsets, only Sony has shared official sales figures for PSVR; the company announced back in March that it has sold-through 4.2 million PSVR headsets since the product’s launch in late 2016.

Data courtesy Sony, chart by Road to VR

Sony’s willingness to share PSVR sales figures over the years has signaled pretty clearly that the company believes it is far out ahead of other headsets in unit sales; whether or not Sony offers a similar update to PSVR sales figures in 2020 will be a strong indicator of how happy (or not) the company was with sales of the headset over the holidays.

SEE ALSO
Microsoft Affirms VR Isn't a Focus for Xbox Series X

Oculus and others have never provided official sales figures for their headsets, though the apparent success of Quest thus far could inspire Facebook to do so for the first time, likely sometime next year.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Jonathan Winters III

    Surprised Oculus didn’t do a black friday deal on it. Big mistake actually, so many people were primed and ready to pull the trigger on one.

    • VR5

      Why do a sale when you can sell out at the regular price?

    • Brian (Suitch)

      There was no point in doing a sale. They are already skimming their cost with the price, and it was already selling as fast as they could make them. It could have only hurt them to do a sale.

    • cartweet

      A sale wouldn’t make a difference if they can’t keep up with demand. The Quest is already backordered past christmas at most retailers. Even oculus themselves have pushed out shipping dates to the 24th and 26. If you haven’t ordered one already for christmas you probably aren’t getting one unless you pay ebay prices.

    • MeowMix

      They did though. Quest BF through 2019 holiday package includes the Vader Immortal series ($30 value).

    • Rogue Transfer

      *Facebook, you mean – the company Oculus was dissolved last year when the CEO left. The products are now “from Facebook”(see bottom of: http://www.oculus.com).

  • Well, Quest has been the most searched, but the most sold one has been the Go, for its terribly low price. And the map of the world clearly shows that Quest dominated only in US, while the rest of the world has been more interested to PSVR.

    I think that Oculus won’t share the sales figures of the Quest anytime soon

    • Rupert Jung

      Maybe that’s because there was no notebable Black Friday offer for the Quest in Europe and it seems there is almost no marketing.

    • VR5

      Quest was sold out. It’s a consistent seller whereas the Go cleared stock thanks to the low price. In other words, the only reason why it was able to sell so many units on black friday was because it was selling less during the year.

    • Rogue Transfer

      Facebook is likely to talk up their Quest’s success & user retention ratios at F8 in April. Though I agree, they are unlikely to give exact sales figures.

  • The Bard

    This portal is paid for sure. Samsung Odyssey+ had 229$ price on Amazon and instantly sold out. No word about it, but only Oculus, Oculus, Valve Index, Valve Index…
    WHO ON EARTH WOULD BUY QUEST for 350-400 USD, when there was TOP VR headset Odyssey+ for almost half the price?! People were searching for Windows Mixed Reality too. RoadToVR instead of promoting headsets with retarded prices should promote WMR headset with high resolution OLED screen, great sound!!!!
    Such articles are promoting to buy Rift S / Quest… sub-quality VR for 50% more money than Odyssey+. You are doing HARM!

    • JesuSaveSouls

      You kinda need a pc unit and a standalone.Quest now does both.For me and a owner of the quest and too a owner of a odyssey.The odyssey looks better and runs way smoother on the pc than the quest link setup.Jesus loves you!

    • CURTROCK

      YOU, are a living example of a PAID PORTAL for the Samsung Odyssey. Continued success with your crusade.

    • Brian (Suitch)

      The Odyssey is not a TOP VR headset, as you put it. It is the bottom-line of good VR headsets. It is the best WMR headset, but that isn’t hard given the others are garbage.

      • The Bard

        Odyssey+ has the best specs overall, from all parameters. OLED with 2880×1600 pixels = Vive Pro has the same panel. Index, Rift S = 2880×1440 LCD (yes! LCD crap).
        Odyssey+ has built-in AKG headphones. Very high quality Audio.
        What you have in Rift S? A tiny hole with terrible sound? It is unacceptable crap.
        Controllers. Super controllers in Odyssey+, because these have both joystick AND clickable in four directions touchpad. No other headset has such advanced controller. You talk Index? Sure it has finger tracking, but controllers too big and heavy and have no joystick + touchpad = FAIL.

        For 229$ Odyssey+ beats all other headsets in visual quality and audio quality. Simply, it has the best components which combine into immersion you feel. OLED with high resolution vibrant colors image and great audio.

        Odyssey+ costs PEANUTS price. You compromise yourself Brian.

        • Brian (Suitch)

          I have many headsets, among them my two that I actually use are the Quest and Index. The Odyssey+ suffers from Microsoft’s lackluster reference design. I am not bashing your headset, but you are absolutely wrong in claiming an entry-level headset as the best headset.

          • Brian (Suitch)

            And did you seriously say the index controllers don’t have joysticks or trackpads? They have both. The WMR controllers are almost as bad as the Vive Cosmos.

          • The Bard

            They don’t have round touchpad with 4 directions – left/right, up/down which you can touch in paint like apps or click. This is a big thing.

          • Immersive Computing

            I can easily use my Index touchpad in 4 directions on each controller?

          • Uncle Right

            No, you don’t get it at all. Look closer how WMR controllers look like. There is a circular, clickable dial in four directions, which also is a very sensitive touch surface. This is another level to Index. WMR controller is also good for painting, color picker etc.

          • Immersive Computing

            Sorry, I do get it, I know a little about ergonomics (as an industrial designer specialising in human factors)

            I’ve owned Vive, Rift CV1 and Lenovo Explorer WMR. Index’s trackpad works as intended, I’ve had no issues selecting tools or colours in painting and creative applications using its touchpad.

          • Fabian

            “the best” is something else for each person. I own an O+ and recently played with a Quest… I can’t understand why anyone cares about the Quest, it’s super low end and I really don’t want to see this screen door ever again. Unfortunatly I could not try the Index yet, but I’ve seen a lot of reviews and after having upgraded from LCD to OLED myself I know how important black levels are, so I keep my O+ because I don’t think any of these other HMDs would be a real upgrade.

          • MeowMix

            I can’t understand why anyone cares about the Quest, it’s super low end
            and I really don’t want to see this screen door ever again.

            Because it’s a standalone headsets !!?? Everything all in one for $399 !!
            Most consumers aren’t PC gaming enthusiasts

          • Uncle Right

            So why do they buy it? “PC gaming” is just a term for QUALITY of game, nothing else dude.

          • Uncle Right

            Exactly. Odyssey 2, 3k x 3k, OLED, curved screen of 180 FOV…oh yes. That would be an upgrade. Competition has nothing better to offer.

          • Uncle Right

            What do you mean as entry level? Its specs are TOP on the market. 2880×1600 resolution from super OLED panel, great sound. This is the most important factor. It has better specs than competion, so “entry level” is misunderstanding here.

        • Caven

          Based on other reports and my own balance-beam test, the Index controllers are almost identical in weight to Windows MR controllers. Not only that, but they’re the only controllers you don’t have to grip constantly while using. I have both the Odyssey+ and Vive with Index controllers, and I find playing Beat Saber is less fatiguing with the Index controllers. Since the Index controllers strap onto the hand, a lighter grip can be used while playing, and I can even let go of the controllers entirely during gameplay without dropping them.

          There’s also the SteamVR advantage to the Index controller tracking. With the Odyssey+ controllers, they reliably lose tracking at just above eye level, making climbing and other high reaches difficult to perform without tracking errors. They also lose tracking when moved too far behind the body, which I find causes problems with certain types of armswing movement. With the Index controllers ( or even the original Vive controllers), I can’t lose tracking unless I deliberately try to shield the controllers from the Lighthouses.

          I do like the image quality of my Odyssey+, and it’s a pretty good value for the price, but it is by no means the top VR headset.

          • Uncle Right

            I wish only to mention that tracking is less important than image quality. Odyssey+ is superior to anything on the market so far. Sure, tracking is also important, but, for majority of users, they will not climb looking forward. 95% uses is not worse than Index. Price od Odyssey+ is 1/3, sometimes 1/4 of Index. This is an important factor to consider. If that Index was 2k x 2k like Reverb, OLED… oh yesss… that would be the best solution hands down. But it is not. Thanks for comparison. Valuable input without insults. Cheers!

    • Chance Gillespie

      Could you possibly be any more delusional?

  • The Bard

    Guys… StripChat VR… just type in Google, download Gizmo VR player for free and type stripchat.com there. You will be blown away. 4k 60 fps webcams…

    • The Bard

      Who voted it down? Are you eunuch or what else is wrong with you? I expected a thank you.

      • MW

        People – thankfully – still have some standards. We are not animals. There are things belonging to bedroom and bathroom. Public staff and intimate staff. You should get that as a human. There’s a much wrong with morality of society – not with those people.
        Oh yes, and before you give me some extreme example from other side (like religious extremisms) read about ‘false dilemma’ fallancy.

        • The Bard

          Because I gave 18+ people a tip on something interesting. They vote me down. If you dont like it, just dont visit it. but why vote down.

  • Woah, hold up a second.. about the “Worldwide” chart… what is Black Friday to the rest of the world? Unless I missed something, the day after Thanksgiving doesn’t mean a whole hell of alot to the rest of the world.

    • paleion

      Its a big sales day – thanks to companies like Amazon. It goes on for a week here in the UK, with Cyber Monday ending it.

    • it has become a worldwide phenomenon. I can say about Greece specifically it became a thing just 3 years ago, Black Friday as well as Cybermonday. Though of course we don’t have thanksgiving in Greece.

  • Krister Nielsen

    Hopefully the end of year sale will bring something good. Been waiting to get into the VR scene but it’s getting hard… really tempted to strat playing VR games

    • The Bard

      Get Odyssey+. The best VR goggles with OLED panel, high resolution, great built-in AKG headphones….and cheapest. Not worth now to put money into Rift S / Index. Next generation will be more interesting.

      • Uncle Right

        Those vote downs are from Rift S LCD crap buyers who dropped the ball and it is hard for them to swallow this brutal truth :-)

        • aasdfa

          100% the odyssey + is nice

        • Justos

          i have many VR headsets and there are real pros and cons to LCD vs OLED. Stop fanboying. LCD is sharper, point blank period. Oled has nice colors and darker blacks

      • Maxx

        With the Odyssey you need Valve base stations for controllers and tracking, so you might as well get the Valve Index, which is way better than the Odyssey. I agree with the Rift S sentiment, but it is still a good headset for entry level, and as much as I hate walled gardens, Oculus offers the best content overall. I try to buy most of my content on Steam still, but is just buggy compared to Oculus Home.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    The new game nostos didn’t play well in wmr but in the quest pc link it was surprisingly well.Issue is I don’t have a excellent current gpu so oculus software requires more hardware.While wmr requires less hardware.So I can’t play very long until they update wmr controls.