AR/VR Spending in APAC to Reach $14.8 Billion

AR/VR technology is set to transform how we live, work and play. The technology has opened new opportunities for gaming, entertainment, consumer, healthcare, manufacturing, education and many more. As the technology gets more perfected and the metaverse is more embedded in the future of work, spending on AR/VR will see strong growth rates of up to 40% in the next few years, says an expert of IDC.

Adoption of new-age technologies saw a giant leap in the last two years because of the Covid pandemic as people were stranded inside their homes and were forced to work remotely. Companies, especially IT firms, adopted cutting-edge technologies, like AI, Big Data, Virtual Reality (VR), and Augmented Reality (AR), to make work more efficient and productive.

AR is the enhanced real-world version with visual, audio, and other sensory stimuli delivered through technology. VR is the 3D virtual world, which can be completely different from the real world. As per the report from IDC, Asia/Pacific spending on AR/VR solutions is expected to capture a net spending of $14.8 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 40.1% in 2021-2026.

A major chunk of VR spending came from the consumer industry, which is expected to showcase a similar trend over the forecast period. However, growing opportunities for commercial use cases, such as training, collaboration, and metaverse-related activities, are expected to offer promising growth avenues. Discrete Manufacturing, Education, Professional Services, Healthcare Provider, and Personal and Consumer Services captured more than 66% of total spending in 2022 among the 19 commercial industries.

AR/VR technology will offer an increased immersive learning experience by enabling information virtualization, thereby developing innovation, problem-solving, and analytical thinking skills. The advent of the metaverse offers an impetus to the AR/VR market.

AR/VR technology, along with AI, cloud, and blockchain, will be used to impact six major markets namely entertainment, social, education, finance, and work. Web3 and metaverse are acting as major drivers which in turn are driving new business priorities.

Going forward, the metaverse development will also help improve marketing and digital economy as eCommerce will continue to showcase accelerated growth due to immersive and comprehensive customer experience.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA