Mobile VR’s dying gasps mean new life for standalone and tethered VR

Even if you were expecting this news, the latest research confirms it: “High-performance” VR platforms are increasing in popularity while “mobile VR” is declining. Users, developers, and manufacturers all appear to have given up on Google’s and Samsung’s smartphone-dependent VR accessories, suggesting that we’re finally witnessing the dying last gasps of that category — at least, as we’ve known it.

If there wasn’t already enough evidence of mobile VR’s collapse, consider this week’s I/O conference. Having aroused suspicions by saying nothing about its Daydream VR platform late last year, Google again remained silent on the subject during its I/O keynote. It hammered more nails in the coffin by leaving Daydream support out of its latest Pixel 3a phones, and telling reporters that it’s now focusing on VR services instead.