AR Grows 4x Faster than VR; Revenue to Surge by 163% and Hit $22.7B by 2030
While many saw it as the next big thing in tech, driven by the hype around Meta’s Metaverse push, PlayStation VR, and Oculus headsets between 2016 and 2020, with investors and media predicting it would revolutionize gaming, entertainment, and even work, VR remains a niche technology. Instead, AR is stealing the spotlight, and the latest market forecast shows this trend is unlikely to change in the future.
According to data presented by Skinsluck.com, the global AR hardware market is projected to surge by 163% and hit $22.7 billion by 2030, growing four times faster than the VR hardware market.
AR Hardware Market to Outgrow VR by 20% by the End of the Decade
Although VR technology has advanced over the years, its adoption simply hasn`t kept pace. For example, despite optimistic growth projections, VR headsets still haven`t gone mainstream, with less than 2% of Steam users owning one. Moreover, high prices, comfort issues, and the lack of must-have apps continue to hold back VR. At the same time, global interest has shifted toward AR, AI, and mixed reality as more practical and scalable technologies. With lower costs, easier adoption, and clear business applications, AR is growing significantly faster and attracting more investments. The latest Statista data show just how big that gap is.
According to the latest Statista Market Forecast, the AR hardware market is expected to generate $8.6 billion in 2025, representing a 36% increase in a single year. The VR hardware segment will hit $13 billion in revenue, growing much slower, only 14% year-over-year. This trend will continue in the following years, with the AR segment seeing a surge in adoption, while VR continues to lose momentum. Although the overall market is projected to expand, the annual growth rate will halve to 6.5%, pushing total VR hardware revenue to a $19 billion by 2030, a 46% increase over five years.
On the other hand, Statista projects the AR segment to grow four times faster in this period, with revenue soaring by 163% to $22.7 billion by 2030. Thanks to this impressive triple-digit increase, AR hardware will outgrow VR by $2.7 billion or 20% by the end of the decade, showing just how fast this technology is developing.
AR User Base to Grow 7.5x Faster than VR
The user growth figures also show a huge gap between AR and VR technology. In 2025, around 147 million people used VR hardware, including headsets and accessories like controllers, sensors, and tracking devices, twice as many as those using AR, which counted 73 million users worldwide.
However, Statista expects the global AR user base to surge by 120% over the next five years, reaching 160.4 million users worldwide. On the other hand, VR hardware will grow seven times slower, by only 16%, adding 26 million new users and reaching a total of 171.4 million by the end of the decade.