Apple, Samsung Electronics, and Vivo are emerging as game changers poised to expand the extended reality (XR) market. Their participation in the XR market is facilitating the integration of smartphone operating systems (OS) into XR devices, making it easier for developers to create XR-specific apps and secure diverse XR content.
According to foreign media and the IT industry on the 3rd, Samsung Electronics' XR prototype is set to be unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for the 22nd (local time) in San Francisco, U.S. IT media Digitimes recently reported that "Samsung Electronics plans to reveal a teaser for its XR headset alongside the Galaxy S25 series at the Galaxy Unpacked event." The product, developed under the code name 'Project Infinity,' is expected to feature the XR operating system (OS) 'Android XR,' which Google unveiled on the 12th of last month.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has also recently announced plans to unveil its XR prototype in the second half of the year and launch it by the end of the year. Apple released its first XR device, the 'Vision Pro,' in February of last year. Meta's share of the XR device market, which exceeded 75% in 2023, fell into the 60% range immediately after Apple's entry into the XR market. According to Counterpoint Research's assessment of the global XR device market share for the first quarter of 2024, it was as follows: Meta (64%), Apple (16%), Pico (7%), and Sony (4%).
The industry sees the entry of smartphone manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, and Vivo into the XR market, which Meta has previously dominated, as an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of the XR content market. Seo Seong-il, Vice President of the Korea Software Industry Association, noted, "The expansion of the XR device market with smartphone OS integration will serve as a catalyst for increasing both the quantity and quality of XR content," adding, "This will improve accessibility for existing developers creating XR-specific content apps and may lead to the development of interoperable content apps between smartphones and XR devices."
In fact, Apple announced that its XR device 'Vision Pro' has already secured over 2,500 XR-specific apps and is compatible with more than 1.5 million iPhone iOS apps. As Samsung and Vivo, who have adopted Google's Android for their smartphones, enter the XR market, the number of cross-compatible apps between XR-specific apps and smartphones could increase. Currently, the global smartphone OS market share is 70.3% for Android and 29.0% for iOS, highlighting Google's significant influence.
When utilizing smartphone OS, generative artificial intelligence (AI) already integrated into smartphones will also be compatible with XR devices, potentially driving growth in the XR market. Last month, Google announced plans to support its generative AI 'Gemini' for Samsung's XR devices. According to Bloomberg, Apple also plans to integrate its AI system 'Apple Intelligence' into Vision Pro after 2025.
Kim Yong-seok, a professor at Gachon University and a former developer of the Samsung 'Galaxy S,' said, "The involvement of smartphone manufacturers will allow the XR industry to easily integrate with AI, leading to rapid growth in the XR market." He added, "As the XR market expands, both Apple and Google will benefit from increased revenue from content fees through their proprietary operating systems, with Apple, supplying both the XR devices and the OS, ultimately becoming the biggest beneficiary in this market."
According to market research firm Fortune Business Insights, the global XR industry market size is expected to grow approximately 13 times, from $131.5 billion (about 193 trillion won) in 2023 to $1.7069 trillion (about 2504 trillion won) by 2032.