Author: openjargon

• China's home values dropped year-over-year in March for new and used properties. 
• Residential home sales fell by 31% last quarter, while property developers' cash reserves shrank by 26%.
• Chinese authorities reported a 9.5% drop in real estate development investment in the first quarter. 

Home prices slumped in March, extending the housing market's decline and leaving authorities in Beijing scrambling for solutions to the country's real estate crisis. 

Home prices in China sank compared to last year for both new and used properties, though there was a slight month–over-month improvement, according to Tuesday's National Bureau of Statistics data.

New-home prices in 70 cities — excluding state-subsidized housing — dropped 2.7% in March compared to a year ago, surpassing February's 1.9% decline. This also translates into a monthly drop of 0.34%, slightly less than February's 0.36% fall.

Meanwhile, existing home prices plummeted by 5.9% year-ver-year across all 70 cities, worsening from 5.2% in January. On a monthly basis, they dipped by 0.53%, showing a slight uptick from February's 0.62% decrease.

Tumbling prices have dampened residential home sales, which plunged 31% last quarter compared to the same time in 2023. Cash reserves of property developers also contracted by 26%. 

Once a powerhouse and the lifeblood of the world's second-largest economy, China's real estate sector has taken a massive hit in recent years. Autonomous Research's analyst Charlene Chu said the nation's property market is "in the middle of a collapse," and that the situation is likely to get uglier. 

Chinese authorities highlighted that investment in real estate development dropped 9.5% in the first quarter from 9% in the preceding two months.

China's economy has shown some signs of bouncing back recently. In the first quarter of this year, it grew by 5.3%, surpassing both analysts' expectations of 4.8% and the 5.2% growth in the fourth quarter of 2023. 

That said, Beijing still faces big challenges to renewing growth and investors' confidence in the world's second-largest economy. With a struggling real estate sector and lukewarm consumer demand, Beijing is now steering the country toward growing sectors like electric vehicles, solar energy, and lithium-ion batteries, which analysts said would create a "two-speed economy," where some sectors thrive while others struggle or collapse. 

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• Donald Trump appears to be struggling to stay awake at his criminal trial.
• For the 2nd day, he's repeatedly closed his eyes for minutes at a time before jolting to attention.
• It's gonna be a long six weeks.

He leans back in his seat, head listing slightly to the right. His eyes are closed. His chest rises and recedes slowly.

In Manhattan's criminal trial court, reporters aren't seated close enough to Donald Trump to hear if he's snoring. But it sure looks like he's dozing off.

The former president, who is 77 years old, is fighting to stay awake while he also fights a 34-count criminal indictment brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office. Prosecutors allege he falsified business documents in the course of disguising hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, to keep her quiet about an alleged affair.

On Tuesday morning, Trump closed his eyes for more than a minute at a time on at least a half-dozen occasions. His head will upright, then tilt to one side.

This has been happening as off to his right, several rows of jurors answered questions about their ability to serve on the jury.

Sometimes, he opens his eyes and glances to where the prospective jurors are sitting. On other occasions, he appears to jolt awake and stretches his arms.

There are other moments where Trump seems relatively engaged, flipping through a paper copy of the jury questionnaire and whispering to his lawyer Todd Blanche, sitting next to him.

Trump's in it for the long haul: Jury selection is expected to last about two weeks, followed by another month of testimony and deliberations.

And Trump reportedly does not drink coffee, sticking to diet Cokes for his caffeine.

On Monday, the first day of jury selection, Trump also appeared to doze off at times, according to multiple reporters in the courthouse.

As he walked down the courtroom aisle on Monday afternoon, Trump stopped to glare at New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who said on CNN during the day's lunch break that Trump appeared to be falling asleep in court.

The 15th-floor courtroom in downtown Manhattan has poor climate control, and Trump — in a wool suit and tie knotted around his neck — may have felt warm on Monday. Tuesday has been somewhat cooler.

If Trump finds criminal court proceedings a good time to nap, he will likely have more opportunities to catch some Zs in the near future.

Aside from the charges against him in Manhattan, he faces three other criminal cases — in Georgia and Washington, DC, for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results, and in the even-warmer Florida, for hoarding government documents at Mar-a-Lago.

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• From 1941 to 1979, Iran was ruled by King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah.
• On February 11, 1979, the Islamic Revolution swept the country.
• The government was replaced with an Islamic republic, which continues to this day.

In the decades before the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran was ruled by the Shah, whose dictatorship repressed dissent and restricted political freedoms.

But he also pushed the country to adopt Western-oriented secular modernization, allowing some degree of cultural freedom.

Under the Shah's rule, Iran's economy and educational opportunities expanded. Britain and the US counted Iran as their major ally in the Middle East, and the Shah forcefully industrialized large segments of the country.

But the Shah's increasingly authoritarian measures and his eventual dismissal of multiparty rule set the stage for the infamous revolution.

Still, for a period of almost 40 years, the Shah led Iran through a series of sweeping changes.

From 1941 to 1979, Iran was ruled by King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah.

Due to Iran's large supply of oil, proximity to India, and shared border with the Soviet Union, Britain and the US fully backed the Iranian government.

However, even before the Islamic Revolution, the Shah's grip on power was unsteady.

Communists and religious members of society disliked the Shah and his pro-Western government.

In 1953, the Shah had to flee Iran after a Western-backed coup to overthrow Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh failed. A second coup succeeded in overthrowing Mosaddegh, who wanted to nationalize the Iranian oil industry to Britain's chagrin, and the Shah returned to the country.

Reza Shah undertook a series of reforms aimed at turning Iran into a modern westernized nation.

These reforms included the structuring of Iran around a central Iranian identity, the often brutal suppression of tribes and their laws in exchange for a central government, and the expansion of women's rights.

Reza Shah attempted to make religious observation subservient to the state.

Part of Iran's method of achieving this was through the banning of veils in public.

Women were also encouraged to attend school and receive an education.

Although Reza Shah's intentions were to turn Iran into a modern Westernized state, his bans on religious garments alienated and frustrated religious conservatives and traditionalists.

Despite the backlash from religiously observant members of society, the Shah managed to create a seemingly cosmopolitan city life.

Women and men mixed freely, and educational opportunities were greatly extended. Western clothing and norms also became ingrained into large segments of the Iranian population.

Leading the charge for westernization was the Iranian royal family. Pictured below is Empress Soraya.

The Shah and Soraya were married on February, 12 1951. Soraya wore a Christian Dior gown embroidered with 6,000 diamond pieces and 20,000 marabou feathers, according to Tatler.

Source: Tatler

Soraya and the Shah divorced in 1958 after failing to produce a heir. Soraya's departure from the royal family was welcomed by some, who thought her German and Catholic background made her untrustworthy.

Source: Tatler

Under the royal family's invitations, Iran became a popular destination for celebrities and heads of state. Here, an Italian actor and her husband visit a sports competition as guests of Iranian Princess Ashraf.

The Iranian royal family reciprocated and widely toured the world's capitals. Here, the Shah and Soraya met with Winston Churchill in London.

In 1959, the Shah married Farah Diba. They welcomed four children, though none would get the opportunity to become an heir because of the revolution.

Toward the end of the Shah's reign, the royal family attempted to rally the country around an increasingly historic nationalism based on the preceding Persian empires.

In 1967, the Shah took the old Persian title "Shahanshah," or King of Kings, at a coronation ceremony in Tehran.

Celebrations funded by the government were also launched throughout the country to honor the Persian roots of Iran. Here, gymnasts take part in an October 16, 1975, celebration honoring the founding of the Persian Empire.

Despite Iran's views of the past, the government continued to value education and child development.

Tehran funded study abroad in Europe for Iranians, and schools and clinics were built throughout the Iranian countryside to care for poorer children as part of the Shah's "White Revolution."

High oil prices and relative stability in the Middle East contributed to a growing business class in major Iranian cities.

Here, Iranians swim in an octagonal swimming pool at the guesthouse of the Iranian National Oil Company.

By 1975, Reza Shah abolished Iran's multiparty system and concentrated ever-greater amounts of power in his own hands under the government-permitted Rastakhiz (Resurrection) party.

By January 16, 1979, Reza Shah fled Iran during the Iranian Revolution. The revolution started off as a popular movement fueled by outrage against government extravagance, corruption, brutality, and the suppression of individual rights before being taken over by Ayatollah Khomeini.

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• Gordon Ramsay's hotel-restaurant in London, the York & Albany, was taken over by squatters.
• The occupiers turned it into a community space, but eviction proceedings appear to have started.
• UK laws make commercial property squatting a civil matter, resulting in costly legal proceedings.

Gordon Ramsay is having a kitchen nightmare.

Last week, London's Metropolitan Police were made aware of a group of squatters who had taken over his York & Albany hotel-restaurant in Camden, a pricey borough of London.

It's unclear when they entered the property, which was temporarily closed while the celebrity chef finalized a new lease, according to reports.

But the group was clearly in possession by the weekend, and made it clear they had no intention of leaving.

Renaming the site "Camden Art Cafe," the group pasted a notice on the building citing a legal provision that — for the time being at least — appears to make it impossible for anyone, including Ramsay, to kick them out.

In 2012, the UK made squatting a criminal offense — as long as it happens on residential property.

But on commercial properties, squatting remains a civil matter. This means police can't simply evict squatters from places like York & Albany — in fact, any attempt to do so without other grounds is itself against the law.

The Met Police earlier told BI that the matter was "a civil matter and so police did not attend as an emergency call out." It also said it was "in the process of identifying if any subsequent offences have occurred."

Getting commercial squatters out is no simple matter, and involves a convoluted procedure — generally costing thousands of dollars in legal bills, legal experts told BI.

"It's not an ideal situation — that seems to go without saying," Niall Helferty, a solicitor at Kuits Solicitors, said.

Property owners have to take the matter to court, applying for a possession order. There are multiple hoops to jump through in an often-clogged London court system, though courts do tend to prioritize matters like this, Helferty said.

Asked what the squatters might be able to do in response, Andrew Whitehead, a partner at Stephensons Solicitors, told BI that "if there's no tenancy agreements and if they've effectively broken in and refuse to leave, it would appear that there's no rights for them to be at the property at all."

Even so, getting them out won't come cheap.

Both solicitors roughly estimated Ramsay's potential legal costs at between $6,000 and $12,000, depending on the billing rates of his legal team.

As well as direct legal costs, commercial squatting also presents other concerns for property owners, including loss of income.

York & Albany wasn't in operation — it is on the market for a reported $16 million, following a legal battle between Ramsay and the building's freeholder. So Ramsay isn't facing any loss of business at the site.

But property owners, and business owners like Ramsay, will be wondering "what damage is being done internally," Helferty said.

Representatives for Ramsay did not respond to BI's requests for comment.

Squatters with a message

Gordon Ramsay isn't exactly known for his gentle, patient side — he's built an empire partly on his gruff attitude.

Even so, it can't be comfortable being made the focal point of an anti-gentrification campaign.

In an interview with The Independent, all of the squatters went by the pseudonym of "Gordon" — but their ire seems just as broadly directed at wealth inequality in London than at Ramsay himself.

The borough where the restaurant is located, according to the group's statement, has "one of the biggest wealth disparities in London." A Camden Council report from 2015 said that while a quarter of its residents live on the equivalent of $25,000 or less, the average house price is about $780,000.

The squatter group did not respond to multiple interview requests, but when BI's Grace Dean visited on Monday, she found a quietly humming space where people got on with painting and chatting about the local community.

According to The Independent, members of the group were whipping up pasta and lattes when its reporter visited, and were keeping a strict cleaning rota.

Neighbors told the paper that the group "haven't been too loud," with some expressing support for their cause.

On Tuesday, the squatters updated their Instagram account to say that legal papers had been served to them, and that the café was on hold.

It's unclear exactly what stage the legal process has reached. But Helferty said it's likely that a court hearing has now been scheduled, meaning that time could be ticking for them.

Regardless of how long they get to stay, the group has gathered plenty of attention, and probably caused Ramsay more than a few headaches.

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Hondo Underwood is a former car thief. He stole hundreds of cars in and around Denver between 2016 and 2017.

Underwood speaks with Business Insider about methods of breaking into vehicles, such as relay theft. He offers insights into how chop shops operate and how organized crime groups conspire to transport stolen vehicles across the border to Mexico. He talks about what it's like to be in high-speed car chases and play cat and mouse with the police. He also notes the models of cars he stole, including Chevrolets and Ford pickup trucks, and discusses the realism of car theft in movies and games like "Gone in 60 Seconds" and "Grand Theft Auto."

Underwood, a Marine Corps veteran, was ordered to complete a rehabilitation program by a Colorado Veterans Treatment Court. He now works in the construction industry.

Find out more:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hondo-underwood-130a9a217
https://www.facebook.com/hondo.underwood.5?mibextid=ZbWKwL
https://coloradocommunitymedia.com/2018/06/20/jails-veterans-unit-provides-inmates-with-sense-of-purpose-direction/

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• The collapse of the Key Bridge has deeply impacted the economy across the Baltimore region.
• With the temporary closure of the Port of Baltimore, that impact also stretches across the country.
• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore spoke to Business Insider about the road to recovery after the collapse.

It's impossible to dispute the sheer importance of the Port of Baltimore to the United States economy.

In 2023, the Port of Baltimore handled a record 52.3 million tons of international cargo valued at nearly $81 billion. Tthe port supports more than 15,000 direct positions, with almost 140,000 jobs connected to its sprawling facility.

But on March 26, the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after the container vessel Dali struck the bridge and sent the 47-year-old structure into the Patapsco River. Six construction workers were killed as they worked to repair potholes early that morning.

The port remains closed, but the US Army Corps of Engineers is aiming to have it partially reopened later this month — with a goal for the port to be fully operational by the end of May.

For Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, the collapse has further solidified his commitment to the port, with its huge economic footprint that plays a major role in the country's supply chains.

"We're talking about $70 billion in economic activity," Moore said of the port's importance. "As long as that port is not fully functioning, the impact will be felt all over."

Moore recently spoke with Business Insider about the collapse of the Key Bridge and the economic impacts of the port's closure.

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity.

John L. Dorman: What is the significance of the Port of Baltimore to the larger US economy?

Gov. Wes Moore: The port is the largest in the country when it comes to heavy trucks and agricultural equipment. It impacts auto dealers in Ohio. It's the largest port in the country for spices and sugar.

That restaurant in Tennessee or Michigan … there's a good chance that they'll have a product that came through the Port of Baltimore. Tens of thousands of workers rely on the port every single day, and the disruption in maritime operations is not just spread across the region, but throughout the United States.

JD: The Baltimore area in recent years has boasted low unemployment and a strong housing market. How do you see the port's closure affecting Baltimore's economy?

WM: The Baltimore renaissance is real. When I was first inaugurated last year, the state was 47th in economic momentum. [It's now ranked 27th, according to data from the Federal Funds Information for States.] And Baltimore has the eighth-fastest growing economy in country.

But we've got to focus on getting that port reopened and make the region a global hub of cybersecurity and AI. I'm very bullish on Baltimore and where it can go over the next decade.

JD: You've worked closely with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on recovery efforts related to the bridge and the port. What were your thoughts as you both stood near the shore and saw the devastation caused by the collapse?

WM: It didn't seem real. For both of us, all we've ever known is the Key Bridge. It's just always been around. Ultimately, looking up and seeing that it was gone was just something we never imagined. I remember telling him: "We're built for this. We're built for this moment."

JD: What are the next steps in ensuring that the bridge can be rebuilt?

WM: President Biden has committed to having the federal government cover 100% of the cost of a rebuilt bridge. But the president is going to need Congress to approve the funding. A rebuilt bridge will have a significant economic impact and the president understands that as well.

The Key Bridge was a key artery in this region. There were 36,000 people who traveled over that bridge every single day. I'm very anxious and impatient about having it rebuilt and operational.

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• A Senate committee is asking Bank of America about payments from Leon Black to Jeffrey Epstein.
• The Senate is investigating tax avoidance strategies used by the mega-rich, The New York Times reports.
• The transactions were "lawful," a spokesman for Black told BI.

A Senate committee investigating $158 million in payments that private equity investor Leon Black made to Jeffrey Epstein has brought Bank of America into the mix.

Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to the bank earlier this month asking whether it had followed proper protocols in clearing the payments, The New York Times reports.

The payments were related to tax work done by Epstein for Black — the former CEO of Apollo Global Management — between 2012 and 2017, according to the Times.

The letter asked whether the payments — which included fees for Epstein's advice on a trust that helped Black save massively on taxes, according to the Times — had raised any concerns at Bank of America.

It also inquired whether any art transactions involving Epstein and Black had flagged concerns.

"The transactions the Committee reviewed were both lawful and conceived, vetted and executed by reputable law firms and tax advisors," Whit Clay, a spokesman for Black, told Business Insider in a statement. "Mr. Black has paid all taxes owed to the government and has provided detailed information on these matters to the Committee."

Bank of America declined to comment. The Senate Finance Committee did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.

The Senate Finance Committee said in July it was looking into the $158 million that Black had paid Epstein as part of a larger investigation into tax avoidance strategies used by the uber-wealthy, according to the Times.

Earlier this month, Black told Puck that he hadn't realized he'd paid the convicted pedophile — who died in jail shortly after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in 2019 — $158 million.

Black said it's because that wasn't a "material" sum in the context of his vast wealth.

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• Jury selection continues Tuesday in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush-money trial.
• Trump gave reporters a preview of his potential defense before he entered the courtroom.
• The former president blamed "some accountant."

Day two of jury selection in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush-money trial began Tuesday, with the former president giving reporters a preview of his potential defense: the hush-money payment actually was a legal expense — as far as he knew.

And "some accountant" at Trump Organization handled the paperwork he's now on trial for.

"I was paying a lawyer and marked it down as a legal expense," Trump said in the hallway outside the courtroom in response to a shouted question by a pool reporter.

"Some accountant, I didn't know, marked it down as a legal expense," Trump rattled on.

"That's exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?" he continued.

The Manhattan district attorney's indictment alleges that he falsified 34 Trump Organization business records to cover up an illegal scheme to interfere with the 2016 election.

The falsified records hid a $130,000 hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, a porn star who was about to publicly allege that back in 2006, she and the then-Apprentice star had sex — a claim Trump has denied.

Trump's hallway remarks suggest his lawyers will argue at trial that he was in the dark about what prosecutors say are falsified documents.

Also Tuesday morning, prosecutors made good on the previous day's promise to demand that Trump be held in contempt of court for violating his gag order."

"Defendant willfully violated this Court's order by publishing several social media posts attacking two known witnesses, Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels," prosecutors wrote in a new motion.

The defense has until Friday to file a response explaining why Trump should not be held in contempt. Should state Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan find Trump in contempt, potential penalties include fines and, in the extreme, jail time.

Meanwhile, jury selection continued for a second day on Tuesday.

No jurors were selected during four hours of jury selection on Monday, a day that began with a half-day of arguments over pretrial motions.

Just under three dozen anonymous prospective jurors will take turns on Tuesday answering questions on a jury questionnaire as lawyers for Trump and District Attorney Alvin Bragg listen intently.

The questionnaire asks basic biographical questions — "in what neighborhood do live?" and "what do you do for a living" among them.

It also asks prospective jurors to say if they've read any of Trump's books, if they are supporters of QAnon or Antifa, and whether they have "strong opinions or firmly held beliefs about former President Donald Trump."

Trump looked at a random court officer and winked as he entered the room, mouthing "How are you?" before taking his seat at the defense table.

He has appeared to struggle to stay awake during the sometimes tedious jury selection process. His eyes have been closed for minutes at a time as he sits at the defense table, and on occasion, he appears to jolt awake.

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• The number of foreign-born workers in the US has surged in recent years. 
• Supporters said they've provided the economy a boost — critics have pointed to the border crisis. 
• Recent immigrants typically work in construction or food services and earn less than $40,000 a year.

Nearly three million more Americans are working than they were in January 2020, but the number of US-born workers has barely budged.

That means immigrants, specifically foreign-born workers, are responsible for most of the US job growth of recent years. Foreign-born workers' share of the US workforce rose from 16.8% in January 2020 to 19.3% in March 2024, according to a Business Insider analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Supporters of immigration say these newcomers have provided the US economy a huge boost and not taken Americans' jobs — a common argument made by those against immigration. With many boomers reaching retirement age and young people having fewer children than they used to, immigration might be the best way for US labor force levels to sustain and grow.

However, some people have argued that immigrants are, in fact, taking Americans' jobs, in addition to reducing wages and contributing to high housing prices. Many also have broader concerns about how some immigrants are coming to the US. Last December, illegal border crossings from Mexico resulted in a record number of arrests, and cities like New York and Chicago are struggling to accommodate the influx of migrants to their cities.

Who are these immigrant workers who have come to the US in recent years? They're likely to be young, male, working in one of three industries, making less than $40,000 a year, and living in one of four states, according to a Goldman Sachs report published in April and based on an analysis of government data.

The typical recent immigrant is more likely than the US-born population to have a college degree

The Goldman Sachs report said much of the recent uptick in immigration to the US has been tied to a rise in "unauthorized immigration" — foreign-born people coming into the US who aren't legal US residents.

The report said many of these people came from South America, Central America, and Mexico — and that the number of immigrants from these regions likely tripled in 2023 compared to its pre-pandemic average.

In recent years, over half of immigrants settled in one of four states: Florida, California, Texas, and New York. The next most popular states were New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Georgia. Accommodative policies toward immigrants and proximity to the Southern border have both impacted their destinations.

Among immigrants aged 16 and older who came to the US within the last three years, nearly 90% of them were between the ages of 16 and 54, compared to 62% of the US-born population aged 16 and older.

Roughly 64% of these recent immigrants were working or looking for work, compared to 62% of US-born workers. Recent immigrants had an unemployment rate of 6.3%, compared to 3.8% for US-born workers.

Among recent immigrants aged 16 and older, about 55% were male, compared to 46% of US-born individuals in the same age group.

Recent immigrants were much less likely than the US-born population to have graduated from high school. Nearly a quarter of recent immigrants aged 16 or older had less than a high school education, compared to 10% of the US-born population.

However, recent immigrants were more likely than US-born Americans to have a college degree. Over 39% of recent immigrants aged 16 or older had a bachelor's or advanced degree, compared to 34% of the US-born population. The biggest disparity was in the share of workers with only "some college" education: about 13% of recent immigrants and 28% of the US-born population.

The typical recent immigrant is likely to make less than $40,000 a year

The most common industries for recent immigrant workers were construction, professional and business, and accommodation and food services.

Over 16% of recent immigrants worked in the construction industry, compared to 6.4% of US-born workers. Among the most common jobs in this industry are construction laborers, carpenters, and electricians, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Roughly 17% of immigrants worked in the professional and business industry, compared to 12% of US-born workers. Among the most common jobs in this industry are janitors, security guards, and landscaping and groundskeeping workers.

About 12% of recent immigrants worked in the accommodation and food services industry, compared to 7% of US-born workers. Among the most common jobs in this industry are "food preparation and serving workers," waiters and waitresses, cooks, and hotel desk clerks.

Per Goldman Sachs, the typical recent immigrant worker made about $39,000 a year in 2023, compared to $54,000 for the typical US-born worker.

Have you recently moved to the US and found work? If so, reach out to this reporter at jzinkula@businessinsider.com.

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• Virtual-reality headsets still are trying to prove their use case.
• You'd think teens would be early adopters of devices like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta's Quest.
• But a new Piper Sandler survey shows 56% of teen VR device owners rarely use them.

The vibes on Apple's Vision Pro are mixed, at best: People like the tech but aren't sure why they should use it, which is a problem for a device that sells for $3,500 and up.

But what about high-tech goggles that don't cost that much, and do have things you can do with them — like play games?

Well, those have issues, too. On the one hand, people are buying them: As of 2023, Meta had sold more than 20 million of its Quest headsets, which start at around $500. But they're not using them that much.

More specifically: Teenagers — the group you think would have the most time and inclination to monkey around with headsets — can't be bothered to put on the devices they already own, according to a new survey from Piper Sandler.

Piper's semi-annual report says that 33% of teens report owning a VR device of some sort. But 56% of them say they rarely use it — that's up from 48% two years ago. (The firm surveyed 6,020 US teens with an average age of 16.1)

But if you're a VR/AR/whatever device fan and you're looking for someone to make lemonade out of this data, I've got something for you: Piper says its survey respondents expect to spend $225 on video games in the first half of 2024 alone.

Now, the trick is getting them to spend that money and time on a VR device instead of a console or their phone.

Good luck!

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