AR/VR’s $80 billion-plus market could split before it consolidates

Some in the AR/VR industry see it converging into a singularity of spatial computing in one magical device, but mobile AR, smartglasses and VR could actually diverge in the medium-term (at least commercially).

AR (mobile AR, smartglasses) is forecast to top 2.5 billion installed base and $70 billion to $75 billion revenue by 2023 (note: installed base is different to active users). VR (mobile, standalone, console, PC) could hit over 30 million installed base and $10 billion to $15 billion revenue in the same timeframe. This divergence is driven by installed bases, form factors, prices, use cases, business models, and unit economics – so why are they so different?