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New Study Projects Headworn AR Revenue to Reach $5.34 Billion by 2028
ARtillery Intelligence publishes its five-year outlook for AR glasses hardware and software revenues.
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LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2023: ARtillery Intelligence has released a new report that projects headworn AR revenue to grow from $1.86 billion in 2023 to $5.34 billion in 2028, a 23.52 percent compound annual growth rate. Entitled Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2023-2028, the report examines glasses-based AR revenue totals and subsegments – including consumer and enterprise spending. This report follows ARtillery’s separate examination of smartphone-based AR spending.
Enterprise spending holds a commanding 78 percent revenue share today, driven by productivity gains in industrial settings, where AR’s line-of-sight guidance achieves operational efficiencies. Consumer headworn AR meanwhile trails in revenue, where the technology isn’t yet stylistically viable nor culturally assimilated. But spending shares will shift over time as consumer AR adoption gains ground in later years. This will be partly accelerated by Apple Vision Pro’s impact, though that will be gradual.
“Apple is playing a long game with Vision Pro and with AR in general,” said ARtillery Intelligence Chief Analyst Mike Boland. “It wanted to demonstrate in version 1 what’s possible at any cost – hence a cost-prohibitive price tag for most consumers. But like other Apple products historically, this is the first step in a master plan that will stretch out for years as price comes down, utility improves, sales ratchet up, and Apple does its thing.”
Beyond Apple, other players continue to define shifts in the headworn AR market. Microsoft’s U.S. Army contract to supply battle-geared HoloLens units has faced considerable headwinds. Meanwhile, a new breed of slimmed-down and AI-fueled consumer smart glasses is seeing considerable traction. These focused approaches eschew the do-everything bulk that only works for enterprises, and include the likes of Ray-Ban Meta Smartglasses (audio AR) and Xreal Air 2.
“Ray-Ban Meta Smartglasses show that optics – and their many design challenges – aren’t needed for a worthwhile UX. AI can instead drive value in relevant multimedia delivery,” said Boland. “Elsewhere, Xreal Air 2 addresses demand signals around gaming and entertainment. As Apple has shown in its Vision Pro marketing, this use case is the most common touchpoint to mainstream consumers.”
Report Availability
Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2023-2028 is available to ARtillery PRO subscribers, and more can be previewed here. This report follows ARtillery Intelligence’s separate examination of mobile AR and VR spending.
About ARtillery Intelligence
ARtillery Intelligence chronicles the evolution of spatial computing, otherwise known as AR and VR. Through writings and multimedia, it provides deep and analytical views into the industry’s biggest players, opportunities, and strategies. Products include the AR Insider publication and the ARtillery PRO research subscription. Research includes monthly narrative reports, market-sizing forecasts, consumer survey data and multimedia, all housed in a robust intelligence vault. Learn more here.
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