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Apple CEO Tim Cook brought attention to the company’s growing interest in the augmented reality (AR) space during Apple’s Q2 2016 (fiscal Q3 2016) earnings call last week.
Addressing analysts, Cook mentioned that the company would be investing a lot in AR over the long run. The statement is not surprising considering reports that popular AR mobile game Pokémon Go could generate around $3 billion in revenue for the company over the next two years.
The announcement also comes as Apple attempts to bolster its Services segment amid declining device sales. Last week’s call unveiled another quarter of declines, primarily as a result of sluggish iPhone sales. However, the Services segment of Apple’s revenue, which includes its software-oriented offerings, including the App Store, Apple Music, and Apple Pay, accounted for its largest share of overall revenue in a quarter, ever.
While it’s unclear whether Apple will release its own smartphone-powered AR/VR headset, in the short- to mid-term, it’s reasonable to suggest that the company will investigate methods to incentivize developers to build more AR apps, perhaps by making its devices more AR-friendly with larger processors and image-capturing tech.
Apple has made a number of investments in AR startups, including Metaio, Flyby Media, and Facelift, according to Digit. These three companies all cover separate areas of the AR tech, including making AR travel apps, motion-capture tech, and an app that was an early adopter of Google’s Tango platform.
The tech industry has promoted the prospect of VR for the past few decades. But only now, with headsets backed by big names like Sony and Facebook, is VR finally becoming a concrete product with mass market potential. While VR technology is largely associated with the gaming industry, the platform offers a new set of content opportunities in entertainment, advertising, and more.
But where is it all going?
Margaret Boland, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on virtual reality content that examines how various VR headset categories will shape VR content development and looks at the trajectory for mobile gaming revenues to get a sense of how spending on VR content might develop. The report also lays out what types of content users and developers can expect on VR platforms, including gaming, video entertainment, and advertising.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
VR headset manufacturers are driving both the development and distribution of VR content by investing significant technical and monetary resources in developers, in an effort to build up an exclusive content library.
High demand for VR headsets by mobile and console gamers will fuel demand for VR content. The VR content market will take an increasing portion of the mobile gaming software industry.
Beyond gaming, VR video entertainment will remain short form until demand for VR headsets increases.
Ads featured on VR headsets will likely have higher view-through rates than standard video ad spots.
Other industries are also beginning to experiment with VR content. Travel companies, publishers, e-commerce merchants, and social platforms are beginning to see potential in this new category.
VR content faces major hurdles that could keep developers from investing: The VR experience must be good enough for people to take up the devices. In addition, developers need to know that a sufficient user base exists to be worthy of the resource investment in VR content.
In full, the report:
Provides a breakdown of each type of VR headset, what platforms they run on, and how content will differ for each.
Includes estimates for global VR headset shipments by category.
Includes a mobile gaming forecast to give a sense of the most important market that will drive spending on VR content in the next five years.
Lays out what other industries are developing VR programs.
Discusses some of the potential barriers that could dissuade developers from investing in VR content.
To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the VR universe, choose one of these options:
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The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the world of VR.