AR and VR are growing rapidly. Source: Shutterstock

AR and VR are growing rapidly. Source: Shutterstock

AR and VR are going mainstream in the APAC says IDC’s new forecast

WHEN augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) first made a debut in the market about a decade ago, businesses called pushed them aside as “consumer technology”.

Today, with more use cases in the enterprise technology world, AR and VR are growing rapidly and wowing customers and users across the world.

Latest numbers from IDC suggest that APAC spending on AR and VR will reach US$7.1 billion in 2019, an increase of 75.2 percent from the previous year.

IDC expects consumer and enterprise/commercial segments spending in AR and VR products and services to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70.7 percent over the forecast period (2017-22).

As the technology continues to evolve, several content development and design software vendors are including AR and VR features in their solutions to make it easier to develop both AR/VR content and applications.

Also, with many new AR and VR software and hardware products being launched this year, enterprises are expected to continue exploring the use of AR and VR technologies for a variety of new use cases.

It’s why IDC forecasts the commercial segment spending in the APAC to surpass consumer spending in 2019.

“As the lines between digital and physical continue to blur, several progressive organizations across the APAC are experimenting or deploying AR/VR technologies to prepare for the future of work,” said IDC APAC Future of Work Director Avinav Trigunait.

“Use cases of AR/VR are emerging across sectors that include delivering more personalized customer experiences, accelerated product designing and go to market, AR guided workflows and maintenance, as well as VR training for better learning outcomes and improved health and safety for employees.”

IDC’s analysts see China spending the most on AR and VR technology in the APAC region with 83 percent of spending last year coming from the country. The spending is projected to take off at a five-year CAGR of 76.2 percent during the forecast period (2017-22).

Other countries in the APAC, however, are not far behind. Plenty of use cases in retail, banking, entertainment, sports, and healthcare have made headlines in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and even Australia.

According to IDC, hardware will account for nearly half of all AR and VR spending throughout the forecast followed by software and services.

The largest category of hardware spending will be host devices, but AR viewers will have the highest growth rate over the forecast period, (CAGR of more than 150 percent).

Software will contribute around 39.3 percent of the overall spend, of which AR software spending is leading in terms of growth with 108.2 percent CAGR (2017-22).

At the end of the day, companies are realizing the benefits of using AR and VR in the workplace — and it’s revolutionizing how new-age executives can manage their workflows.