New Study Projects Headworn AR Revenue to Reach $13.4 Billion by 2024

ARtillery Intelligence publishes its five-year outlook for head-worn AR revenues.

11/11/20 – SAN FRANCISCO – ARtillery Intelligence today released a new report that projects headworn AR revenue to grow from $822 million in 2019 to $13.4 billion in 2024. Entitled Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019-2024, 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 revenue share of AR glasses revenues with a projected $1.33 billion in 2020, compared with consumer spending of $22.1 million. These totals consist of both hardware and software. Enterprise spending dominance is due to productivity gains demonstrated in industrial settings, where AR’s line-of-sight guidance boosts speed to task-completion and error reduction. Consumer AR meanwhile trails in revenue, as the technology isn’t yet stylistically viable for consumer markets – a factor that could flip with Apple’s projected market entrance.

“Apple’s AR glasses released in the 2022 timeframe could create a classic Apple halo effect by boosting consumer awareness and demand for AR glasses,” said ARtillery Intelligence Chief Analyst, Mike Boland. “Rather than the common graphically-rich connotations of AR, Apple’s glasses will likely be simple and stylish, while accomplishing tasks such as notifications or LiDAR-powered ways that help people see better. Think of it like the iPhone 1 of AR glasses.”

As is the case across the global economy, AR glasses revenues will be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Given that the consumer AR glasses market is so small to begin with, it will be minimally impacted. Enterprise markets could meanwhile suffer to some degree due to recessionary spending as well as supply-chain impediments. However, enterprise AR use cases support COVID-era demand signals, potentially offsetting those losses.

“Certain flavors of enterprise AR like remote assistance and guided maintenance align with social distancing requirements in field-work and industrial settings,” said Boland. “This could mean that COVID-pressured adoption exposes the technology in ways that lead to new habits for enterprises that sustain into the post-COVID era of semi-remote work.”

Report Availability

Headworn AR Global Revenue Forecast, 2019-2024 is available to ARtillery PRO subscribers, and more can be previewed here.

Video Companion

https://youtu.be/j1EV8sNyTqQ

ARtillery Briefs, Episode 43: Headworn AR Revenue Outlook (https://youtu.be/j1EV8sNyTqQ)

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.