At the same time that virtual reality is carving out a space for itself, ABI Research says AR is also heading upward.
Though virtual reality technology has been receiving a very large amount of attention from the media over the last short while, the augmented reality sector has also been seeing a tremendous amount of growth and it looks as though this is going to continue into the future.
A recent data analysis of the industry has shown that products with AR tech will be making up a larger market heading forward.
The results of a study conducted by market research firm ABI Research, has shown that products within the augmented reality industry will soon be seeing a much bigger market. In fact, the firm stated that the market specific to AR tech will be worth an estimated $100 billion by the close of 2020. The report on the industry included a broad spectrum of different types of mobile devices and other products that would use AR technology. This included smart glasses and headsets as well as smartphone apps.
The prediction was that 21 million units of augmented reality based devices would ship in 2020 alone.
This would represent a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 78 percent occurring between 2015 through the end of 2020. The revenues that will occur as a result of the sale of these mobile devices and other AR products will stem from a range of different vertical markets, including health care, gaming, education, industrial and retail.
The report on the data analysis also indicated that virtual reality revenues would be increasing at a rate that is comparable to that of AR. That said, while this may be the case, the report indicated that VR technology would be occupying a notably smaller market space.
The predictions from ABI Research indicate that the majority of the software and content revenues with these types of technology will come from mobile devices. That said, it was also forecasted that high end verticals such as certain specific industrial sectors and health care will be investing in higher end mobile devices, which will generate a larger size of revenues in the augmented reality ecosystem.
