In a press release yesterday, Samsung offered Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge users in the UK access to the Samsung Gear VR, as well as premium virtual games and content. This deal will be in stores between now and June 4th.
According to Samsung Newsroom, Samsung Electronics is releasing new Gear VR packages to customers in Europe (because sales in Europe are expected to grow by 168% by the end of the year, higher than any other market). These packages are geared toward offering free access to premium and exclusive Oculus games and content through the Samsung Gear VR. This bundle will have some of the favorites expected on Oculus store (like Anshar Wars 2, Darknet, Drift, Keep Talking, Nobody Explodes, Ocean Rift, and Starchart).
Making Samsung and Oculus Household Names in Europe
Because of promotions like these, Samsung is expected to sell another 300,000 VR devices to customers across Europe, as experienced record-breaking sales in Europe (around 1.8 million devices). Galaxy S7 and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge are continuing to have a high demand too, according to David Lowes (Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Electronics in Europe). Their hopes are that these promotions will draw bigger crowds to VR, developing broader, more amazing technology in the future.
A Year of Growth in 2016, According to Samsung Estimates
Analysts expect VR headsets sales to reach 10 billion dollars within the next four or five years, and Western Europe is expected to account for over a third of this total (over $3 billion in sales). Because of these numbers, it makes sense for Samsung to Target many promotions there. This growth highlights an “exciting journey” for Samsung, according to Ben Wood, the analyst at CCS insight:
“[We believe that] we are at the beginning of an [exciting VR journey]. . . Customers will be keep to experience the wealth of professionally curated 360-degree content that will emerge in 2016 [and] the growth in self-created content generated. . . and shared on Facebook and YouTube [will take] awareness levels to new heights as the year progresses.”