Augmented reality is admittedly in its infancy, but we can expect the sector to accelerate as recent innovations bring products to market and (ultimately) drive costs downward. Market value forecasts are a tricky metric to establish, but conservative estimates point to augmented reality being worth as much as $58 billion by 2028 while driving $38 billion in sales this year alone. This is an important consideration when investing in AR stocks.
As with any new and emergent tech, plenty of newcomers, upstarts, and startups are flooding the scene in a bid for investor attention. Of course, not all of these will come out on top. If you’re looking for augmented reality stocks, the best bet today is to stick with names you know – and these AR stocks are household names for a reason.
So here are three AR stocks to buy.
Apple (AAPL)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is on track to hit a record-setting $4 trillion market cap next year, with much of its newfound acceleration coming from augmented reality. While not staggering, the company’s already sold as many as 200,000 Vision Pro headsets, which is no mean feat at a $3,499 price tag. We’ll likely see sales accelerate as early adopters prove the product’s capabilities and, eventually, unit costs drop.
Of course, a going concern moving forward is that the Vision Pro could begin to cannibalize sales across Apple product lines, specifically tablets and iPads, sales of which are already on a downswing. Apple is at an inflection point: while they wait for Vision Pro sales to settle and stabilize, they’re also waiting to see whether the new hardware and augmented reality tech is a mere diversion or represents what the iPod did in the mid-2000s. Either way – Apple is easily the dominant augmented reality stock today and the best bet for a blue-chip inroad into the emerging market.
Meta (META)
Meta (NASDAQ:META) is a close runner-up to Apple but may not stay in second place for long. In one major consumer review, Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest Pro are neck-and-neck at four stars each – but the Quest Pro’s pricing is a fraction of Apple’s. This sets Meta up not as an inferior discount to Apple but as a cost leader able to innovate without brand-name bloat often associated with Apple. this makes it one of those AR stocks to consider.
Beyond the Quest Pro, Zuckerberg and the team have something brewing under the surface that likely relates to its augmented reality initiatives. In mid-January, Zuckerberg revealed billions of dollars worth of spending on Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips. While Meta’s AI initiatives doubtlessly contribute to the total, the company’s burgeoning “massive compute infrastructure” will just as likely service augmented reality platforms to boot – especially once integrated with AI.
Like Apple, Meta is on the blue-chip side of augmented reality stocks, making it a safer bet to capture new trends as the sector develops.
Qualcomm (QCOM)
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) is one of today’s largest augmented reality manufacturers. As such, it likely won’t let new entrants or existing competitors take over its position. The company’s joint venture with Samsung and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG) solidifies its industry-leading hardware role and could be the next big thing as augmented reality markets mature.
This partnership aims to create a comprehensive mixed-reality platform, leveraging Qualcomm’s technology, Samsung’s hardware, and Google’s investments in augmented reality tools. No specific product announcement has been announced. Still, analysts anticipate that the venture will produce a series of headsets that will introduce customers to new virtual reality experiences and generate significant revenue for Qualcomm.
Meanwhile, QCOM continues to enhance its extensive range of virtual reality products, including headsets. The company’s Snapdragon processor equips its product line with the latest WiFi technology and eye-tracking capabilities, fostering innovation in the augmented reality space and establishing new industry standards for others to emulate.
On the date of publication, Jeremy Flint held no positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.