Publication date: 13 May 2024
Workplace Transformation Will Boost European AR/VR Spending in 2024, Says IDC
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For more information, contact:- Barbora Pavlikova (bpavlikova) Email: bpavlikova@idc.com Phone number: +39 02 284 571
MILAN, May 13, 2024 — According to the Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide published by International Data Corporation (IDC), European augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) spending will reach $4.8 billion in 2024. AR/VR spending will record a 21.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years to reach $10.2 billion in 2028. Stronger-than-expected growth is driven by increased spending for VR following the launch of new devices on the European market.
“European organizations recognize the importance of AR/VR technologies in their digital transformation journey. The technical progress has been accelerating, but a widening skills gap creates bottlenecks in the transformation,” says Barbora Pavlikova, research analyst with IDC Data and Analytics, Europe. "Given the current ageing population and low supply of talent and employees' lack of necessary new skills, AR/VR offers a great opportunity for organizations to bridge the skills gap by increasing their upskilling and reskilling initiatives via efficient immersive training.”
Discrete manufacturing will be the highest-spending industry sector in the AR market. AR helps optimize processes across the value chain and supports time and costs efficiencies by allowing visualization and streamlining of complex concepts in real time and providing valuable insights into operations. Healthcare will see the fastest medium-term growth in AR spending, with a 22.7% five-year CAGR. European healthcare organizations continue to prioritize investments in innovation, including interconnected workspaces and the expansion of virtual care and telehealth. Reflecting the popularity of AR in manufacturing, augmented maintenance is the largest use case in terms of investments in AR, while training is forecast to post the highest CAGR by 2028. As digital transformation continues shaping new job roles and changing required skillsets, training becomes a crucial transformation tool.
On the VR side, retail will remain the largest industry in terms of spending, accounting for 17.8% of total B2B spending for VR. Online retail showcasing has revolutionized customer shopping experiences and accelerated investments in VR. Banking will record the fastest growth in VR spending in the five-year forecast period. The recent launches of Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3, and Bigscreen Beyond will further push spending in VR, and all industries are forecast to post a double-digit five-year CAGR. Training will remain the largest use case for VR, as immersive training is effective in improving the learning curve for employees. VR offers a great opportunity for businesses not only to provide training to new joiners but also to increase their upskilling and reskilling initiatives from within. Collaboration will be the fastest growing use case, driven by continuous shift of organizations toward more flexible models of work and new ways of working, which requires increased investments in collaborative employee experience.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights: http://bit.ly/IDCBlog_Subscribe.
About IDC Spending Guides
IDC's Spending Guides provide a granular view of key technology markets from a regional, vertical industry, use case, buyer, and technology perspective. The spending guides are delivered via pivot table format or custom query tool, enabling the user to easily extract meaningful information about each market by viewing data trends and relationships.
For more information about IDC's Spending Guides, please contact Gabriele Roberti at groberti@idc.com.
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