Augmented Reality (AR) in Sport – Thematic Research

Summary

An analysis of the current landscape of the augmented reality industry, and its connections to sport.

Augmented reality is a fast moving industry that is consistently evolving, and is seeing more and more investment as time passes. Tech companies have identified it as an area that has significant room for growth, and it’s an avenue that some sports teams and organisations have begun exploring, albeit in limited measure thus far.

The AR market, worth $7bn in 2020, will generate revenues of $152bn by 2030, according to GlobalData estimates. Clearly, the threat to the smartphone market is not imminent. Indeed, smartphones are used to support AR applications in both the consumer and enterprise markets. AR is evolving into a utility in specific consumer and enterprise applications. On the consumer front, AR is primarily used in social media, gaming, and ecommerce. While Pokémon Go and Snapchat Lenses have helped popularize AR as a tool for entertainment, ecommerce is using it as a utility.

In a GlobalData survey conducted in Q2 2021, respondents perceived AR as the most disruptive technology, ahead of artificial intelligence. COVID-19 has fuelled enterprise adoption of AR across sectors such as healthcare, law enforcement, and manufacturing, mainly for remote collaboration. Businesses will continue to adopt AR in the coming years, but the high cost of headsets and smart glasses will be a barrier to widespread adoption in the short term.

Many sports organizations have begun to recognize that AR can be used effectively to increase fan engagement, monitor athlete health and help marketing operations, among other things. There are though still few widespread applications for AR in sport, but its usage will increase as the industry continues to develop products for both consumer and enterprise applications over the next few years.

Key Highlights

– Worth nearly $7bn in 2020, the global AR market will reach $152bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 36% over the 10-year period, according to GlobalData estimates. In terms of end-users, the consumer AR segment accounted for 88% of total AR revenue in 2020. However, by 2030 the enterprise segment will be dominant, accounting for nearly two-thirds of total revenue.
– AR software accounted for more than 90% of the total global AR market in 2020, with the remaining coming from the sale of hardware such as smart glasses and headsets. AR software will continue to dominate the market as novel, immersive content and use cases are developed for smartphones, AR smart glasses, and AR headsets. However, the launch of new AR smart glasses and headsets during the forecast period will increase AR hardware’s revenue share to 34% by 2030, up from 7% in 2020.
– The AR software market was worth $6bn in 2020 and will surpass $100bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 32% over the 10-year period. Most of the software revenue in 2020 was derived from smartphone-based AR games. However, the increasing adoption of other consumer AR apps for activities such as fitness, navigation, and education will see this segment overhaul AR games in the long run. While we expect most consumer apps to be free to use, paid access to premium features and in-app advertisements will be key monetization strategies in this segment.
– The AR hardware segment generated revenue of $498m in 2020 and will be worth $52bn by 2030. There was little to choose between AR smart glasses and AR headsets when it came to revenues in 2020, but AR headsets will generate far greater revenue, equivalent to 60% of the AR hardware market, by 2030. This is attributable to the high price of AR headsets, especially those targeted at enterprises, compared to AR smart glasses. The AR headsets segment will be worth $31bn by 2030, up from $251m in 2020, while AR smart glasses will grow to $21bn in 2030 from $246m in 2020.

Scope

– This report provides an overview of the recent history of the AR industry, and how sports has begun to delve into the industry in various ways.
– The current trends dominating the AR conversation are identified, and drivers, trendsetters and leaders in the industry are all discussed.
– The report provides a detailed analysis of the potential future development of AR, and the challenges facing its development, as well as projections on how substantially the industry will grow in the coming years.
– An in-depth look at the value chain for AR, and how different areas of the sector generates revenue and business.

Reasons to Buy

– For those wanting an in-depth analysis of how AR has developed, and how it has intersected with the world of sports, as well as the challenges facing this partnership.
– For those wanting a sense of the current performance of many of the dominant tech giants that have stepped into the world of AR development, as well as the leaders and challengers in the sector.
– GlobalData’s thematic research ecosystem is a single, integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.