Market research firm TrendForce conservatively estimates the virtual reality (VR) market, both hardware and software, will be worth US$70 billion by 2020.
This year saw the launch of one of the first consumer VR headsets, the Samsung Gear VR. At the Google I/O in 2014, the company introduced Google Cardboard, a VR platform developed for use with a foldout cardboard mount for a mobile phone. It is intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR and VR applications.
Last year, Facebook acquired Oculus VR, a maker of virtual reality goggles, for $2 billion. "We're making a long-term bet that immersive, virtual and augmented reality will become a part of people's daily life," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the time.
More and more companies, like the New York Times and YouTube, are developing VR apps.
TrendForce predicts the VR market will reach US$6.7 billion next year and increase tenfold over the next five years.
"These explosive growth projections actually do not sufficiently reflect just how hot the VR industry is right now," TrendForce wearable device analyst Jason Tsai said in a statement.
"The figures do not include the value of non-commercial uses of VR technology. For example, the industry is currently pushing the development of free software and do-it-yourself apps. While these projects do not immediately generate revenue for the developers, they have a vital role in the promotion market growth and innovations."
Tsai says the VR industry is in its infancy, and companies like Facebook and YouTube will play a major role in bringing VR to the mainstream. "People's habit of creating, uploading and sharing their works on these platforms will result in the growth of user-generated VR content that will in turn attract more consumers. In sum, social sharing will make VR technologies more influential and more tied to social media platforms."
Share