Many companies are very optimistic about the virtual reality and augmented reality markets, and market research organizations are also pushing for the heat of VR and AR. Recently, market research organization IDC released the latest report, and it is estimated that by 2020, the global augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) market revenue will be expanded from the current 5.2 billion US dollars to 162 billion US dollars. This means that the global AR/VR market will grow at an annual rate of 181.3% over the next five years.
The report estimates that between 2015 and 2020, AR/VR hardware sales revenue will account for more than half of total revenue, while software sales revenue will also rapidly increase, and the growth rate in 2016 will exceed 200%. It is expected that revenue from VR systems will be higher than those from AR systems in 2016 and 2017. This is largely related to consumer-selected games and paid content, but after 2017, AR system revenue will go beyond VR. The income is mainly reflected in the application growth in medical services, product design and manufacturing.
Shut, vice president of IDC, said that in the past many years, AR/VR technology has remained in the field of science fiction, and now with the launch of inexpensive AR/VR devices based on smart phones, the consumer market is ready to accept new experiences. The recent technological developments in the medical industry show that AR technology can exert a strong influence at the industry level. In the next five years, these technologies will also be applied in other fields such as education, logistics and manufacturing.
By region, the United States, Western Europe, and Asia, except Japan, will account for three quarters of global AR/VR revenue. By 2020, income in the United States will be significantly higher than in the other two regions. Since AR/VR technology is still in its early application stage, it is expected that the annual growth rate of relevant income in each of these regions will exceed 100% in the next five years.