Trends and Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness in the Global XR Industry

As 5G networks have become widespread, the performance of extended reality (XR) devices -- which include augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) devices -- has vastly improved. This has led developers to make higher-quality content for these devices. The COVID-19 pandemic fueled and explosion in demand for at-home entertainment and activities, and this had a positive impact on the XR industry. The XR market is now on a growth trajectory after a long era of growing pains. In this report, we comprehensively analyze major trends in the XR industry and identify some of the most compelling and competitive products. A survey of industry and policy experts informs this analysis. Based on the results, we propose a suite of industrial development strategies and policy directions designed to enhance the position of South Korean players in the XR space. We argue that XR devices have the potential to succeed smartphones as the next major consumer device market, but Korean firms lack meaningful global market share and the competitiveness of its domestic XR ecosystem is weak. As global competition intensifies and XR applications expand rapidly, enhanced government policy support is necessary.