IDC recently released the latest "Global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Half-year Investment Guide", which predicts that the global revenue of the augmented reality and virtual reality markets will grow from 5.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2016 to 162 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, which means that From 2015 to 2020, the compound annual growth rate in this area is 181.3%. IDC's latest investment guide provides detailed technical, industrial, and geographic predictions for the AR/VR market.
"For many years, augmented reality and virtual reality have always been sci-fi themes. Now that we have powerful smartphones and cheap VR heads, the consumer market is ready to accept new payments and user-generated content-driven experiences. Recent developments in the medical industry show that augmented reality headlines can have a profound impact on the industry. Within the next five years, we expect that the same situation will occur in education, logistics and manufacturing.†IDC Consumer Demand and Analysis Chris Chute, vice president of the division, said.
"The rise of new low-cost hardware will enable more companies and individuals to come into contact with virtual reality and augmented reality technologies," said Tom Mainelli, IDC equipment and vice president of AR/VR division. "But people will use these hardware as always It depends on its supporting applications and services. In the next few years, we expect that developers will create a variety of new experiences for these devices and fundamentally change the way many of us work."
During the forecast period, sales of AR/VR hardware will account for more than 50% of global industry revenues, and AR/VR software revenue will also have a good start. In 2016, they can achieve more than 200% year-on-year growth, but In the middle of the forecast period, software revenue will be exceeded because the logistics and manufacturing industries require enterprise AR/VR support.
According to forecasts, revenues of VR systems in 2016 and 2017, such as viewers, software, consulting services, and system integration services, will be higher than AR-related revenue, mainly due to the consumption of games and paid content. After 2017, AR revenues will increase by leaps and bounds, especially in the areas related to medical services, product design and management.
In terms of geographical distribution, the United States, Western Europe and Asia (excluding Japan) will account for three quarters of global AR/VR revenue. The revenue generated by the three regions in 2016 is roughly the same, but by 2020, the United States is expected to far exceed the other two regions. Since AR/VR technology is still in the early stage of development, the annual expected growth rate in each region exceeds 100%.
The "Global Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Half-year Investment Guide" is a detailed analysis of the development of the AR/VR industry and aims to provide a forecast for this emerging market in the next five years. Revenue data covers 8 regions, 10 industries, 18 use cases, and 10 technology categories. Unlike other industry surveys, this detailed investment guide is designed to help IT decision-makers clearly understand the industry and guide them in current and future AR/VR investment.