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It鈥檚 a large market, too鈥�69% of US gamers use mobile phones or tablets for gaming, per Attest, and mobile games stand to be more lucrative for startups than console-based or VR games. The pros and cons: AI in gaming can take the place of developers, artists, and voice actors, which will make room for funding expensive genAI compute power.

Ownership of virtual reality (VR) headsets/devices ranked lowest in the region at 2.9%. Not many regions compare with North America鈥攖he global leader鈥攁t 9.8%. Central and Eastern Europe鈥檚 lower ranking reflects lower disposable incomes and the availability of bandwidth to support data-heavy activities like VR. Bulgaria.

Gen Z is adopting VR faster than are other generations. The number of Gen Z VR users is expected to increase from 25.8 million in 2024 to 33.5 million in 2028. We expect it to take the majority share of VR users from millennials in 2027. What does this mean for marketers? Digital video is Gen Z鈥檚 top digital habit, but all roads lead through social media.

Metaverse hype may have died down, but tech companies are still investing in VR. And a crop of new devices will continue to expand audiences鈥攁lbeit slowly.

Entertainment venues and VR experiences. Service-oriented retailers like Apple's Genius Bar. Special events like concerts and conventions. Major retailers are betting big on mall real estate. Some major retailers are completely reconsidering malls by acquiring them.

Unusual new smart devices like rings, glasses, and headphones will steal the thunder from VR headsets. We do not count headsets like the Meta Quest or the Apple Vision Pro as smart wearables, but they are nonetheless competing for consumer attention with the accessories we do count. VR headsets haven鈥檛 lived up to the hype so far, whereas wearables have generally exceeded expectations.

VR headset ownership was still niche at 4.7%, a decline of 0.9 percentage points YoY. This put China at No. 21 out of 49 countries globally for VR adoption. Smartphone ownership in China was nearly universal at 97.4% (ranking No. 23 among GMI countries).

Younger shoppers are comfortable using augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality tools. Twenty-eight percent of 12- to 14-year-olds already use AR to make purchases, according to Mintel. Our take: While Gen Alpha is becoming an undeniably important cohort for the beauty industry, companies should tread carefully when marketing and selling to the demographic.

The number of AR and VR users is expected to keep growing, but investments may not be paying off across the board鈥擲ony is cutting funding for its VR games and is losing interest in its PlayStation VR. Key stats: The number of AR users in the US is expected to reach 116.0 million in 2028, up from 95.8 million in 2024, per our forecast.

Meta defends its Within acquisition before an antitrust judge: It鈥檚 becoming increasingly clear the company needs VR to replace lost social media ad revenue.

Meta trapped in the middle of its past and future: One year after its bold pivot to the metaverse, Meta is wrestling with poor VR user adoption while desperately trying to resuscitate legacy apps in a flagging ad-revenue reality.

It was No. 1 in VR headsets, smartphones, game consoles, smartwatches, and smart TVs. Smart TV ownership in Australia was 63.3%, more in line with regions in the West. The ownership rate was up almost 20 percentage points from 2019. Game console ownership in Australia was 38.3%, well above the regional average. But unlike smart TVs, the ownership rate has been steady since 2019. Japan.

There will be 90.0 million monthly users of augmented reality (AR) in the US this year, a figure that, despite decelerating growth, will cross the 100 million mark in 2025, according to our forecast. Virtual reality (VR) will hit 68.9 million users this year, though growth has also tapered off.

Only 13% of US adults have used augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) while shopping. Though the overwhelming majority have not, 38% are at least somewhat interested in trying the tech.

On today's episode, we discuss Snapchat's new AI chatbot, Meta's generative AI plans, and what's new about GPT-4. "In Other News," we talk about whether VR influencers can save the metaverse and how drone delivery company Wing is looking to make last-mile delivery more efficient. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Jacob Bourne and Jasmine Enberg.

On today's episode, we discuss why some folks think digital ads are getting worse, whether things are looking up for Uber, TikTok鈥檚 parent company ByteDance challenging Meta on VR, why Warner Bros. Discovery will continue Discovery+, the Grammys rebounding from the pandemic's effect on viewership, the surprising most littered plastic item in the US, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our vice president of Briefings Stephanie Taglianetti and analysts Suzy Davidkhanian and Max Willens.

On today's episode, we discuss what AI-generated ads will look like, TikTok testing a new AI chatbot called Tako, Formula One finding a new way to advertise on its cars, ESPN offering its channel as a standalone streaming service, what using VR in a car will look like, visualizing the US workforce as 100 people, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, and analyst Max Willens.

On today's episode, we discuss the effect TikTok has had on social media, what time spent on the platform looks like, and the impact of its new screen time limit for children and teens. "In Other News," we talk about whether social apps are taking up a bigger or smaller share of Americans' time spent online and what Meta's AR and VR hardware road map looks like. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Debra Aho Williamson.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how this year will look as Google's cookies fade away, the biggest threat to Google's search dominance, how many consumers are moving to ad-supported streaming, whether Apple can move the VR needle, Peloton's content hub on TikTok, the first person to ever complete Tetris, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Ross Benes, Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf, and Max Willens.

Our take: Unlike 础辫辫濒别鈥檚 and Meta鈥檚 closed ecosystems, democratized XR and VR spreads hardware and software development鈥攁nd ecosystem expansion costs鈥攁cross various partners. Google is creating XR versions of its apps including Maps, Photos, and YouTube and enabling Chrome to run in mixed reality.

South By Southwest was last week, and AI and VR were all the buzz. Gen Alpha is growing up with these technologies, which means the next generation of consumers will not just be used to AI and VR鈥攖hey鈥檒l expect to see it. Here are three takeaways from our analyst regarding tech trends at the event.

Competition in the VR/XR ecosystem is heating up, and strategic hardware-software alliances could accelerate competition for Apple's premium products.

础辫辫濒别鈥檚 VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, became available in the US on February 2. Almost immediately after, brands began announcing immersive experiences that would be available for download on the headset.

Retailers look to redefine the customer experience: That鈥檚 leading them to invest in immersive experiences such as AR, VR, gamified social shopping, and AI-enabled personalization.

Meta is bringing its conversational AI assistant, Meta AI, to its Quest VR headsets in the US and Canada鈥攔eplacing basic voice commands with a more sophisticated assistant you can talk to naturally. The integration of voice AI into these face-worn devices represents a step toward more immersive human-computer interactions in VR.