American market research firm International Data Corporation predicted that virtual reality would generate $2.3 billion in revenue this year in the global market.
According to CNBC, this is the research firm's first prediction on virtual reality followed by Goldman Sachs' report early this year. Goldman Sachs predicted that the combined market of virtual reality and augmented reality would grow to $80 billion by 2025.
IDC predicted in its report that Samsung, Sony, HTC and Oculus' efforts on virtual reality would push the sales of the devices up to 9.6 million units by 2016.
"In 2016, virtual reality will catapult into the spotlight with major launches from Oculus, HTC/Valve, and Sony building on the early momentum created by Samsung's first smartphone-based product," Tom Mainelli, IDC vice president for devices and displays, said in the report.
He also added, "When you combine this with robust shipments of screenless viewers from Samsung and other vendors launching later this year, you start to see the beginning of a reasonable installed base for content creators to target."
CNBC said although the virtual reality market currently expands into diverse areas ranging from healthcare, sports and education, the lead consumers of the market would be game enthusiasts.
Lewis Ward, IDC research director of gaming, said in the report, video games are "the lead rationale for people to pick up an Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR this year."
The news report said, the companies rolling out new virtual reality games will see their sales rise up mainly on VR headsets especially during holiday seasons.
IDC also predicted that the around 64 million units of virtual reality hardware devices will be shipped around the global market by 2020.
