Industry Reports Buoy Early Adoption of the Metaverse by Companies

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Talks on the metaverse are ever-present in tech circles, considering the hype surrounding the term. Following Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement of the company’s pursuit to develop the digital realm, many are engrossed by the possibilities of such a world and how it can potentially disrupt human activity in many ways. As such, big tech enterprises quickly began developing virtual and augmented reality headsets for it and at least nine other companies, besides Meta, are pouring huge funds into the metaverse’s development.

So, will it be anywhere near as groundbreaking as the inception of the internet or the mobile phone?

Consulting firm McKinsey & Company seems to think so. According to its 2022 report “Value Creation in the Metaverse,” the virtual realm will have an economic value of up to $5 trillion by 2030. This is the size of Japan’s economy, which is the third-largest in the world. What’s even more remarkable is that the metaverse will still be in its infancy stage by that time. Meta did state that it will take 10 to 15 years to develop the metaverse.

DBS Bank Limited, Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, recently echoed McKinsey’s sentiment. In fact, it has even loftier projections than McKinsey. DBS views the global metaverse market as being worth between $3 trillion and $11 trillion by 2030. What’s more, the company predicts that the metaverse will eventually account for 10% to 40% of the entire digital economy and 3% to 10% of the world’s economy.

These are highly encouraging numbers, especially for corporations with huge risk appetites. Adopting the metaverse early appears to come with a slew of benefits. However, it is still a speculative realm that is far from being completed and bears the risk of not becoming mainstream. So, what’s the real score?

Substance Behind the Hype

McKinsey’s report reveals that 57% of companies that are aware of the metaverse have become early adopters. These enterprises recognize the long-term growth potential that the digital realm can deliver since it spans all industries and changes the way customers interact with brands, vastly expanding the ways by which companies can design user experiences. Moreover, the wealth of use cases that will be developed potentially brings in near-boundless growth.

With this, the latest augmented reality statistics show that metaverse investments have reached $120 billion in 2022, more than twice as much as 2021’s total. And it is bound for even bigger growth in the coming years, especially when the metaverse is nearing completion.

This early, a majority of consumers (59%) are already looking forward to transitioning their daily life to the metaverse. In other words, there is a high demand for it, which will significantly grow over time. Judging by this sentiment, the metaverse would likely go mainstream.

Investing in metaverse real estate is currently a hot topic for those in the know. After all, the prices of such have soared by an astonishing 500% in the past few months. Despite this, the rates are still amazingly cheap compared to what they will be in the next eight years or so. And there are plenty of options since the metaverse will span all major industries. It could even create new ones since the realm’s dynamics will spring up new needs and wants. As such, it would be wise to buy now and grow later. Not much later, in fact.