Opinion: Metaverse might be a source of steady profit for enterprises in the nearest future

The emerging technology continues to evolve as 40% of enterprises worldwide will be using an amalgamation of AR cloud, Web3, and metaverse which is aimed at skyrocketing profits.

What is Metaverse? If you are not familiar with the word “Metaverse” here is the meaning “Metaverse is a hypothetical iteration of the internet as a single, universal and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality and augmented reality headsets” (Wikipedia).

The word metaverse has been in existence since 1992 as it originated in the science fiction novel Snow Crash as a portmanteau of Meta and Universe. Fast forward to this day Gartner research and the advisory firm sees a metaverse as “being created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality, and a mutual virtual 3d shared space.”

Through the use of digital currencies and NFT which means non-fungible tokens, the metaverse will be independent and won’t be possessed by a single vendor. The predictions made by the Gartner firm grimaced some analysts. “It’s a bit aggressive,” said Mark N.Vena, Principal analyst at SmartTech Research Calif. 

He went further to justify his previous statement “The primary headwind to the metaverse in business is the arrival of genuine metaverse applications that will have broad appeal with enterprise accounts.” Some of that does exist which will continue to surface in operational areas like inventory management, logistics, and other vertical areas, but until metaverse applications that increases productivity arrives, I think 40% is a stretch,” he added.

Impediment of Metaverse

Ross Rubin a principal analyst at Reticle Research, a technology advisory firm in New York, made justification on what could impede the rollout of metaverse into the enterprise.

“On a fundamental level, we need enhancements in device size and power efficiency and broader applications beyond those in manufacturing, engineering, and other industrial applications that exist today.” He went further saying, “beyond these AR-related improvements, however, there are open questions as to whether the metaverse will evolve as a single, broadly accessible platform, like the web or whether companies will largely build out their applications, as they with cloud technology.”

“Finally, we are starting to see some encouraging standards-setting here, such as the metaverse standard Forum he added. “Meta, the owner of Facebook, could also be contributing to metaverse traction problems,” contributed Rob Enderle, president, and principal analyst with the Enderle Group an advisory services firm in Ore. “Facebook’s efforts are so depraved they are putting a cloud over the entire segment and, incongruously, they are the biggest investor currently.”

“Facebook is efficiently knocking a big sign over the segment implying it is bogus,” he added, “even though Nvidia’s hard work is working far better and being employed by companies like BMW, showing prove that Facebook appears to be destroying at the moment.”

Is Patience needed?

“Impatience could also play a role in a company’s metaverse persistence,” Quynh Mai CEO of Qulture, a digital marketing agency in New York. “As per brands go in the metaverse, they often get discouraged upon arrival, not comprehending that it is still a budding but evolving platform,”. “They don’t see a mass number of users in metaverses like Decentraland or The Sandbox, and then retreat.”

“Insistence is important as the technology driving Web3 is evolving quickly with developer activity increasing exponentially, so it’s vital for brands to test now so they can gage their Web3 projects alongside its evolution,” she said.

“With the forthcoming recession in the U.S. and the IMF’s economic cautions, many brands are retreating from Web3 and focusing on short-term issues,” she continued. “Nevertheless, just like during the two versions web, brands that do not modernize will lag.”

“Web3 adoption will be motorized by Gen Z, which is about 25% of the world’s population, so brands that do not stay the course will not prosper with this cohort in 2027,” Mai added.

The use of Super-aps

Gartner as well predicted that “by 2027, 50% of the world’s population will be daily active users of multiple super-apps.”

According to Wikipedia, Super-apps is a mobile or web application that can provide multiple services including payment and financial transaction processing, effectively becoming an all-encompassing self-contained commerce and communication platform that embraces many aspects of personal and commercial life.” 

“Although most examples of super-apps are mobile applications, the perception can also be applied to desktop customer applications, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack, with the key being that a super-app can unite and also replace various apps for consumer or employee use,” Gartner Vice President Frances Karamouzis clarified in a statement.

“Multi-function apps have always appealed to users,” Enderle noted. “A solo app that does a lot of things has always been striking over multiple single-focused apps as folks don’t want the difficulty and learning curves associated with a high-volume number of apps,” he said. “Relative simplicity, apparent cost, and the utility of super-apps make them attractive.”

“The prototypical for this is WeChat, in China, which is used for responsibilities as diverse as reading news, making payments, and hailing cars,” he said. “WeChat grew its functionality in part because there were no main OS vendors and little competition from outside of China keeping it in check.” “There are advanced barriers to replicating its success outside of China,” he continued. “Apple, for instance, already supports playing games and transferring money through its Messages app, and Telegram uses add-on bot that could deliver a lot of functionality beyond messaging.”

Is it Sustainable?

“One calculated trend that crosses all the others is sustainability,” Gartner noted. The top priority for investors, after profit and revenue, is environmental and social changes according to recent surveys. This means, it continued, that executives ought to invest more in innovative solutions that are designed to solve [environmental, social, and governance] demands to support goals.

“Cutting-edge 2023, delivering technology will not be adequate,” Gartner Vice President and Analyst David Groombridge added in a statement.

“All technology investment will need to be set off against its influence on the environment, keeping upcoming generations in mind,” he added. “‘Maintainable by default’ as a neutral requires sustainable technology.”