In this era, tech giants are looking forward to adopting the metaverse concept, making it one of the trending business trends. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook) is enduring efforts to transform the company into a metaverse company.
Recently, Meta also reported its first-quarter earnings for 2022 with the earnings per share of $2.72, which is higher than the $2.56 expected by analysts. However, the revenue of $27.91 billion is still lower than estimates. But, Meta’s stock rose by 15% compared to its downfall in early 2022.
It was also announced by Zuckerberg that the company would scale back costs and was investing in AI tools to improve recommendations and ads. This is a sign that Meta is buckling down to make money as it works on its long-term ambitions to build the metaverse.
Metaverse is a viable business opportunity with investors coming up to fund players in this field. Besides investors, tech giants, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft have decided to join the trend by pumping billions into this new virtual tech world.
Having said that, we at TFN have curated a list of tech titans that have made huge investments into the metaverse already.
Microsoft
Founded by Bill Gates, Microsoft is a long-standing player in the field of technology. Being a pioneer in many technological advancements, the company has penetrated into the metaverse right now. In January this year, the company acquired Activision Blizzard, a popular video game developer and publisher. With this acquisition, Microsoft plans to grab a major position in the metaverse industry.
The deal worth $70 billion is the biggest ever deal by Microsoft and it will develop games and software within the metaverse. Also, the acquisition will accelerate the growth of the company’s gaming business across PC, console, cloud and mobile.
Meta
Realising the potential of the metaverse, late last year, Facebook was rebranded as Meta. With this, the company is making efforts to usher in the progressing metaverse industry and is getting people to talk about the sector.
Besides the rebranding, Meta has invested $10 billion into acquiring and developing hardware and software used to provide VR capabilities within the metaverse. Also, it is in plans to invest into AR, yet another promising tech within the metaverse. On the contrary, some reports claim that this could be a temporary fad for the company, but only time can answer this speculation.
It won’t be an exaggeration to state that Google was among the first companies to venture into the metaverse. Back in 2014, the company came up with a pair of AR glasses called Google Glasses. Though this product failed, it looks like the company is not going to stay away from investing in AR.
After investments in the metaverse from competitors, the search engine giant Google has also started to invest in the sector. In January this year, Google has once again shown its interest in AR as it intends to set a strong foot in the metaverse segment.
In many instances, the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai has discussed their interest in AR. The tech is expected to play a major role in making services such as Maps and YouTube a virtual landscape.
To realise the same, Google invested $39.5 million in a private equity fund for metaverse projects. This investment makes us believe that the company is eyeing to realise a virtual and augmented future.
NVIDIA
Yet another tech giant that is focused on investing in the metaverse is NVIDIA, one of the leading GPU developers. It is responsible for making GPUs for PCs, consoles, laptops and more. Also, it is contributing to cryptocurrency mining and a myriad of other uses.
NVIDIA is gearing up to become a major part of the metaverse infrastructure as it develops tools, including Omniverse to provide tools that are needed for metaverse developers to bring their vision to life. The company is in plans to develop digital avatars that are used by people to represent themselves in the world of the metaverse.
Unity Software
Last year, Unity Software acquired a digital VFX company, Weta Digital for nearly $1.6 billion. This is the biggest deal ever by Unity Software to acquire a VFX developer and it shows the focus of the company on the metaverse. With the VFX tools of the company, Unity Software might develop its RT3D (real-time 3D) tech, which can be experienced by players in the metaverse and set a solid presence in this sector.
Already, Unity Software is a leader in the development of real-time 3D visuals and it could play a major role in producing the AR and VR elements within the metaverse. This makes it evident that the company has a bright scope in this segment.
Shopify
The e-commerce platform Shopify is used by numerous businesses. With virtual shopping becoming a trend, there is increased possibility for Shopify to leave a strong presence within the metaverse with a focus on AR shopping that will let users try on clothes or view items in their homes virtually prior to making a purchase.
Recent rumors suggest that Meta intends to compete with Shopify as an e-commerce platform. If this turns out to be true, then we can expect virtual shopping to make its way to Meta as well.
Roblox
In recent months, Roblox has become one of the most valuable metaverse stocks. The company has made a few brand partnerships that might give it a considerable metaverse presence. Roblox focuses on developing a virtual world that lets players game as well as interact.
With its sight set on the social part of the metaverse, Roblox will let players use their virtual avatars to communicate and build their social circles. It wants to build a metaverse around the current player base with better safety.
Qualcomm
The chipmaker Qualcomm has also made an investment in XR or extended reality with a vision to enter into the metaverse. Besides this, the company has opened an XR lab in Europe and has collaborated with Microsoft to ramp up the adoption of AR in both consumer and enterprise sectors.
Qualcomm has collaborated with Microsoft, thereby representing a shared commitment to XR and the metaverse. Having said that, we can expect some exciting AR developments being made in preparation for the metaverse by both Qualcomm and Microsoft.
