The concept of augmented reality (AR) has overtaken virtual reality (VR) in much of the tech speculation sphere. That’s because the overall applications of augmented reality lend themselves more to day-to-day usage than VR’s mostly entertainment-focused sphere. For example, the most commonly touted sectors that AR could enhance are education, retail, healthcare and defense. With these industries backing the sector’s growth, there are a few augmented reality stocks to watch in the coming years.
Moreover, many augmented reality stocks on this list come from companies with broader revenue streams than just AR, meaning investors get more security for their speculation into AR technology. Beyond this, investors can closely follow AR technology’s impact on these companies by looking into how their stocks respond to news of its development. Thus, whether by improving productivity or disrupting existing technological trends, these three augmented reality stocks could become lucrative long-term positions for investors.
Apple (AAPL)
I’ve often discussed Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) slowdown in innovations in the consumer tech industry as a sign that the stock’s best days might be behind it. After all, the tech giant continues to release minor revisions to well-established products, lacking any serious market movers like it once produced. Yet, the company’s foray into augmented reality, which it insists on calling “spatial computing,” Vision Pro, is still somewhat of a nonstarter for most consumers.
No matter what it’s called, Apple’s move into AR stocks signals two things: it recognizes the market’s future potential and plans to refine its latest design over time. Just as with its previous products, Apple will make gradual improvements until it can reduce costs. This presents a chance to invest in a profitable blue-chip stock as Apple enters the AR market.
Moreover, with the trend of releasing a budget model, usually under the “SE” or “Air” moniker, Apple could bring augmented reality to a much broader set of consumers should its applications justify it.
Lenovo Group (LNVGY)
Lenovo Group (OTCMKTS:LNVGY), which has been widely recognized for its affordable consumer laptops, is making strides into the premium enterprise market with its augmented reality headset. This move likely aligns with predictions of the Chinese AR market reaching $12.4 billion by 2029, leveraging Lenovo’s strong position domestically. Even U.S. companies may find Lenovo’s specialized headset hard to overlook.
Currently, Lenovo offers the ThinkReality A3, a dedicated AR headset designed for manufacturing and engineering applications. This wearable glasses-style device excels at projecting real-time overlays into the user’s field of view, enabling features such as live training instructions for manufacturing equipment and virtual model sharing for design teams.
In essence, Lenovo is introducing a high-end product tailored to a niche of business users within its broader consumer electronics market. This AR venture holds both potential and security, making Lenovo a compelling investment opportunity.
Meta Platforms (META)
Somewhat of an early adopter of virtual and augmented reality technology, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) has been relatively bullish about its products in the sector. For now, its recent partnership with EssilorLuxottica (OTCMKTS:ESLOY) to produce AR-powered Ray Bans has been slow to gain traction from day-to-day users. These slower adoption curves and high costs for the early AR glasses models keep the tech out of reach of the average person. Nevertheless, Meta continues to persist in its investment and development strategies, hoping to push AR adoption to a point where it becomes a tech mainstay.
Recently, the company’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, gave an interview in which he claimed the next iteration of Meta’s AR glasses will be a “big deal” as the company gets closer to revealing the upcoming generation. Yet, despite this confidence from Zuckerberg, the prototype won’t be available to the wider public until a consumer version is released in 2027. As such, buying Meta stock now would mean investing in the long-run of AR tech.
On the date of publication, Viktor Zarev did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.