A new research recently released by Bain & Company shows that the metaverse could be worth 900 billion US dollars by 2030, despite the recent news that interest in the metaverse is declining. The report presented by Bain & Company, “Removing Overcomparison from the Metaverse,” states that the metaverse provides real and growing economic opportunities for companies. It also mentions that over the next five to ten years, the companies that participate in the early stages of metaverse development, known as the seed stage, are believed to be the most successful in the market. Even though the metaverse is still in its early stages of development, the promising potential can already be seen in areas such as education, gaming, health, and commerce. Chris Johnson, a partner in Bain & Company's technology practice, states, “As the metaverse evolves rapidly, we've seen these types of technologies take hold in different industries.” A good example of this is gaming platforms, which have hundreds of millions of monthly active users. Although it is not immediately clear how the situation will evolve, the research shows that there are five competitive areas that executives must take into account if they want to get ahead and eventually expand: virtual experiences, content creation tools, application stores and operating systems, devices, and computing and infrastructure.

Thanks to rapid developments in the underlying technology, it's a continuous journey of taking immersive and collaborative experiences to the next level,. The Bain & Company report found that the metaverse is unlikely to emerge as a single platform due to consumer and enterprise applications becoming increasingly immersive and collaborative. Alternatively, platforms that currently have a massive user base may take steps to become more immersive and engaging, while smaller, metaverse-like environments will try to attract larger user bases. These virtual worlds are likely to remain isolated from each other, as private companies seek to recoup their investments by leveraging the value of the underlying data sets.

“There is currently a range of metaverse strategies, from companies that follow a vertically integrated approach covering multiple sectors of the metaverse technology stack to companies that have a horizontal strategy focused on a single layer,” says Moncef Al-Maghrabi, a partner at Bain & Company Middle East. “It remains to be seen what will prove more effective as the market evolves and the shape of the ecosystem is likely to evolve over time.”

Industries that have since turned to metaverse technologies include but are not limited to entertainment, manufacturing, healthcare, education, and employee training. According to Bain & Company, the five key competitive aspects that executives should consider if they want to gain market share in the metaverse, include:

1. Virtual experiences, which are expected to reach about 65% of the metaverse market size in 2030. Although gaming is currently the leading consumer application, fitness and entertainment could soon also be present in the metaverse. 

2. Content creation tools, estimated to make up about 5% of the metaverse market size in 2030, is a growing field that provides the essential elements, editing platforms, and interfaces for creating metaverse worlds and experiences. 

3. Application stores and operating systems, making up about 10% of the metaverse market size in 2030, will be crucial during the initial phase of the metaverse. They will provide users with curated, high-quality experiences to keep them engaged with the platform.

4. Devices, constituting about 10% of the market, significant barriers must be overcome for devices that provide immersive experiences to come. To achieve wide exposure in the future, content must work on all types of devices including PCs, smartphones, and consoles.

5. Computing and infrastructure are estimated to make up about 10% of the metaverse market. Hardware companies will face pressure to develop high-performance chipsets, servers, and networking technologies to deliver high-quality graphics and reduce latency.

These and other opportunities will emerge with the increasing adoption of metaverse technology, which will provide more markets and business models, better ways of working, and training and development systems. Due to this, a new series of research reports that focus on examining the economic potential of the metaverse in several regions and countries around the world have emerged. These reports look at how metaverse technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), are already being used and what it takes to maximize economic opportunities in each country and region. This gives governments and industries the ability to make evidence-based decisions about what policies to pursue and where to focus their efforts.

The reports advanced by Deloitte and commissioned by Meta examine the economic opportunities that could be achieved in the United States, Canada, the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey and Asia. According to the report “The Metaverse and its Potential in the Middle East and North Africa,” this region is experiencing a journey of economic and digital transformation, and its companies and governments are showing a tendency towards adopting new and immersive digital tools. The United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are playing a leading role in this field by actively investing in metaverse systems. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is investing one billion US dollars in projects related to the metaverse. Likewise, a Metaverse Strategy aims to transform Dubai into one of the top ten largest metaverse economies in the world by focusing on innovation in tourism, real estate, education, retail trade, and government services. As interest in the metaverse starts to grow, several applications and commercial uses have already begun emerging, which demonstrates how consumers can use the metaverse to attend virtual concerts, purchase virtual assets, or access educational platforms.

When these plans are fully established, the returns to the Saudi Arabian economy could reach up to 38.1 billion US dollars annually to additional GDP by 2035. On the other hand, in the United Arab Emirates, the revenues can reach between 8.8 and 16.7 billion US dollars annually. In the same context, the research finds that the United States is well-positioned to harness the potential of the metaverse and lead its global development. Metaverse is expected to generate 402 billion US dollars in GDP annually, bringing great benefits to the American economy. 

American companies are already using metaverse technologies to create new sources of income and improve existing ones. American brands and retailers have already begun selling virtual versions of their products in addition to their existing physical goods. Other US companies market their physical goods using a virtual overlay, enabling customers to “try out” the product before purchasing it. The report details how US companies are beginning to see evidence of increased operational efficiency in areas such as employee training in immersive virtual reality, improving remote work by making online interactions more dynamic, and using technology to improve physical operations.

The research also highlights that the EU already has a relatively high rate of business adoption of technologies such as AR and VR, with rates in the EU (10%) higher than those in the US (9%). Moreover, achieving strong digital foundations is an important goal of the European Commission. Like their American counterparts, European retail brands are already exploring how they can connect with consumers in the metaverse. EU farmers are testing how metaverse technology can improve production, and European car manufacturers are developing virtual reality-based systems to design and reconfigure their plants and training systems to improve safety and efficiency. The continued successful development of the metaverse could contribute an additional 259 to 489 billion Euros to the region's GDP annually by 2035.

Asia is the world’s leading continent when it comes to developing and adopting metaverse technologies. Japan, Taiwan, and Korea all have a thriving VR industry ecosystem, and people are already learning, socializing, and purchasing goods and services through the virtual platform. Several countries including South Korea and Japan, have featured the metaverse in their economic plans. Developing markets such as Thailand, India, and Indonesia, where virtual reality technology has not yet become common, enjoy a thriving manufacturing economy and lead the world in augmented reality technology. 

Metaverse will be a series of technologies, platforms and products built by a wide range of companies that can open the door to new worlds of creative and economic opportunities around the world. As researchers show, while these technologies may be hypothetical, their economic impact will be real. Realizing this potential is a matter of utmost importance, and will only be achieved through collaborative efforts. This will require concerted efforts from technology companies, policymakers, and the general public.