New products launched for the holidays and new AR/VR headset vendors combined for 10% growth in global shipments in the devices last year, according to a new report from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The IDC Worldwide Quarterly Augmented and Virtual Reality Headset Tracker report showed that long-time leader Meta continued its spot at the top of the market. Meta had nearly three-quarters (74.6%) of the market. Apple was a distant second at 5.2%. Others in the top five were Sony (4.3%), ByteDance (4.1%), and XREAL (3.3%).

Of those, only Meta and XREAL grew their AR/VR headset business from the previous year, which the report attributed to a combination of higher selling prices, newer products and gaming-focused use-cases.

The report adds that the launch of new headsets from Apple, along with well-received headsets such as the Quest 3 (and later 3S), as well as the Pico 4, led to an increase in commercial demand.

However, new product introductions won’t be enough to grow the market this year, according to the research firm. IDC expects an annual decline of 12%, though a rebound is expected in 2026. Between 2025 and 2029, IDC anticipates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.6%.

“Last year was a great year for hardware as we got to see new mixed reality headsets from large brands such as Apple and Meta, and it was also a great year for smaller brands such as Even Realities and RayNeo,” said Jitesh Ubrani, IDC research manager, worldwide mobile device trackers, in a prepared statement about the headset report.

“In 2025, we anticipate even more glasses with displays and multi-modal artificial intelligence along and the introduction of Android XR hardware which is likely to lead to platform rivalries among the key players: Meta, Apple, Google, and everyone else.”