Disqus
In its latest report, Juniper Research is looking at the market for augmented reality apps, predicting that by 2017, over 2.5 billion mobile augmented reality (AR) apps will be downloaded to smartphones and tablets per annum. To put this number into perspective, that’s 3.5 times the number of downloads achieved by Angry Birds in 2011!
The research company believes that major retail and entertainment brands will fuel interest for this app category. For instance, retailers can bring more internet-like experience into their stores, allowing consumers to access detailed information on a product simply by pointing their camera at it. Entertainment brands, on the other hand, will drive usage by pointing consumers to download AR apps and try them out with products that they are familiar with.
At the moment, the average consumer doesn’t know much about augmented reality apps. In that sense, Juniper says that many AR apps will not be able to find the size of audience they need to break even and advertisers may find that they are unable to reach their target demographic.
Some other findings from the report include:
- Purchases made using AR apps, such as physical goods purchased after accessing AR advertising content, will become a key revenue stream for the mobile AR industry.
- We will see an increasing number of playsets, such as those produced by WowWee, which combine physical toys with a game on a smartphone or tablet.
And you can get additional information about Juniper’s report from their website.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
