When it comes to the Metaverse, the German economy appears to be divided, with skepticism and open-mindedness in balance.

Every fourth company sees an opportunity in the metaverse (Image: Bitkom)
Every fourth company sees an opportunity in the metaverse (Image: Bitkom)

Around one in four companies (26 percent) are generally interested and open to the topic, while a similar number (29 percent) are critical and negative. 34 percent are still undecided. One in four (26 percent) sees the metaverse as an opportunity for their own company, one in five (20 percent) sees it as a risk. A third (33 percent) assume that the Metaverse has no influence on their own company, 21 percent do not yet have the confidence to make an assessment.

This is the result of a representative survey of 604 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany on behalf of the digital association Bitkom.

However, a slim majority (58 percent) are of the opinion that the Metaverse will significantly change the Internet and offer a variety of new business opportunities. However, 42 percent believe it is a short-term hype that will not meet expectations and will soon disappear.

“The Metaverse is based on a variety of relatively young technologies, such as blockchain or virtual reality. Some in the tech scene are expecting a real revolution in the Internet. Whether this turns out to be true is currently completely open,” says Bitkom Managing Director Dr. Bernhard Rohleder. “It is important that German companies are open to this technology and monitor very carefully how it develops and what it can offer them.”

The Metaverse is not a virtual parallel world

The Metaverse is not a virtual parallel world, but rather both a 3D extension of the Internet and a virtual extension of the real world. There are numerous connections between the real and virtual world: virtual goods are purchased with real money, digital twins and avatars depict real machines and people, and digital information is displayed in our field of vision via augmented reality.

The possible applications range from virtual visits to concerts or shopping sprees through purely digital shopping malls to virtual meetings between teams spread across continents and the digital twin of real factories in which changes to the production process can be tested. By 2030, various consulting companies predict a global market volume of several hundred billion euros for offerings related to the metaverse.

German companies see a number of advantages that using the metaverse can bring.

One in two (49 percent) believe better collaboration within companies is possible, for example via virtual conferences. More than one in three (37 percent) say that Metaverse makes it possible to offer completely new products and services. A fifth expect access to completely new customer groups (22 percent) and completely new ways of interacting with customers (21 percent). 15 percent assume that existing products and services can be adapted for the metaverse, and 11 percent assume that the metaverse gives companies a competitive advantage.

“The Metaverse can be used within the company as well as as a place to offer products and services. “A lot depends on whether the providers of Metaverse solutions manage to convince a large number of commercial users of the opportunities,” says Rohleder.

For their own company, those surveyed can primarily imagine virtual meetings for internal company collaboration, virtual company representations and training for employees in the Metaverse (44 percent each). But team building events (41 percent), product presentations (39 percent) and product sales (35 percent) are also considered interesting. The recruitment of new employees (28 percent), the provision of services (24 percent) and marketing (22 percent) follow somewhat behind. Hardly any company (2 percent) considers direct investments in the metaverse, such as virtual land purchases, to be interesting. 4 out of 10 companies (40 percent) fundamentally cannot currently imagine any worthwhile activity in the metaverse.

In general, two thirds (68 percent) of companies assume that the Metaverse is still a long way off. However, 14 percent also say that the metaverse threatens the current business model. And almost one in four companies (23 percent) even see the existence of the entire company threatened by the metaverse. And 4 out of 10 (44 percent) expect competitors to use the Metaverse. However, a similar number (40 percent) consider this to be impossible.

In the German economy, the Metaverse is currently considered to be of particular interest to the leisure and gaming industry (65 percent). A majority also considers it relevant for digital platforms (56 percent), end consumers (56 percent), training and further education (54 percent), tourism (52 ​​percent) and the fashion industry (51 percent). This is followed by the music industry (48 percent), companies that address directly to end consumers (48 percent), the healthcare sector (46 percent) and companies that target business customers (45 percent). 3 out of 10 (31 percent) of companies also see the metaverse as an opportunity for public administration.

“There is actually no area in which one cannot imagine the use of Metaverse applications,” says Rohleder. “It’s not just about entertainment. Further training can be just as effective in virtual reality as, for example, consulting a doctor.”

Companies see a variety of challenges surrounding the metaverse.

There are complaints that the technology is not yet fully developed (76 percent) and that there is a lack of standardization of Metaverse applications (48 percent). But the benefits are still generally questioned. Two thirds (66 percent) lack practical applications, and a similar number (63 percent) want to wait and see what others do with the Metaverse. 39 percent generally see no benefit for their own company, and 16 percent have tied up their investments in other trending topics.

But regulation in Germany also blocks the path to the metaverse. 62 percent complain about data protection requirements, 46 percent see legal uncertainties in the metaverse, and 29 percent worry about IT security requirements. Internal company obstacles are currently a lack of know-how (62 percent) and a lack of qualified personnel (35 percent), but also insufficient budgets (23 percent). 15 percent don't have the time to deal with the Metaverse.

“For the Metaverse to be a success, standards and interoperability are urgently needed. Very few companies will invest the time and money to be part of a Metaverse solution if they risk betting on the wrong horse,” says Rohleder.

The current uncertainty has consequences!

47 percent have not yet delved deeper into the Metaverse and have no plans to do so. A quarter (27 percent) have not yet dealt with it, but can at least imagine doing so in the future, and 12 percent even have plans to do so. Only 4 percent of companies have dealt less with the metaverse and 2 percent have dealt very intensively with it.

“Simply wanting to be part of the metaverse is certainly not a suitable strategy. At the moment, the main thing is to follow upcoming developments very closely and to make them usable for your own company at an early stage,” says Rohleder.

Around half of the companies (45 percent) are planning investments around the metaverse. 2 percent want to invest this year, 8 percent plan to do so next year. And 41 percent are convinced that they will make corresponding investments in 2024 or in the next five years.

Better information about marketable Metaverse applications would make the German economy's path to the Metaverse easier (66 percent). But financial support for Metaverse projects in companies (52 percent) and assistance with the legal assessment of their use (48 percent) are also on the wish list. 45 percent each would be helped by better availability of skilled workers and the expansion of research activities at universities, 43 percent are interested in roadshows and conferences that show concrete applications, and 41 percent in exchanges with companies that are already further along in the topic. A quarter would be helped by exchanges with universities and research institutions (27 percent) and an external assessment of the quality of Metaverse applications (26 percent).

According to companies' assessment, Germany is currently in danger of being left behind internationally when it comes to the still young topic of metaverse.

Virtually no company considers Germany to be a global leader (0 percent) or in the top group (0 percent) when it comes to the Metaverse. Only 4 percent place Germany in the middle field, but 30 percent place it among the laggards, and 56 percent think Germany is already lagging behind. 11 percent do not dare to make an assessment. Rohleder: “The metaverse can develop into a technological megatrend. We can't stand on the sidelines and watch what our competitors do. The scope for creativity is particularly great in this early phase. We have to use it.”

Bitkom has started the Metaverse Forum

Bitkom has started the Metaverse Forum to bring together actors in the Metaverse, to discuss current developments, to discuss the topic and to advance and shape the Metaverse together. More information can be found at www.forum-metaverse.de . Among other things, the guide “Paths into the Metaverse” is available to download free of charge as concrete help for companies: www.bitkom.org/Bitkom/Publikationen/Wegweiser-Metaverse .

source

Bitkom
Also read: Metaverse: Playground for cybercriminals


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