Global shipments of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets will hit 16.5 million this year, up more than 5 million or 32.1% from last year. Most of these shipments are to consumers, but commercial sales are set to multiply over the next five years, driven by the opportunity for product visualization prior to purchase.

Meta’s new prototypes show promise: Unveiling future VR headsets and announcing brand partnerships could stoke interest in the metaverse, but Meta still has a long way to go to push the platform into the mainstream.

Smartphones will gain a few competitors in the next several years. As metaverse tools and wearables like virtual reality (VR) headsets become more commonplace, they will cause growth to slow for everyday devices like smartphones.

Once the domain of gamers and young social media users, AR and VR are entering the mainstream. This year, more than a quarter of the US population will use AR and nearly a fifth will use VR. As device-makers improve VR headsets and AR spreads to new use cases, the number of AR and VR users will continue to grow over the next four years, with AR outpacing VR.

In 2026, consumers will collectively use 70 million virtual reality (VR) headsets worldwide, a steep increase from 26 million in 2021.

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) continue to expand their reach as new devices and applications make them more accessible to consumers.

The metaverse market could shortly get a lot bigger: Apple’s RealityOS, rumored for an announcement next Monday, will encourage many on-the-fence consumers to adopt VR.

Meta uses fitness data to tap into Apple’s ecosystem: Bringing the metaverse’s fitness stats into Apple Health via Oculus headsets helps Apple users close their activity rings and gives Meta synergy with a larger user ecosystem.

The consumer VR headset market is poised to enter a renewed stage of competitiveness focused on creating digital ecosystems—Apple’s forte.

AR, VR, and video games present opportunities that marketers can tap into right now.