XR hardware shipments to hit 7.4 million by 2030

The satisfaction of a customer with their product or service is as important as the quality and usefulness of the product or service itself. Extended Reality (XR) has emerged as the enabling technology to expand markets, improve capabilities, and redefine after-sales services. The use of XR has been seen to achieve resolutions faster, optimize resources and skill gaps, and significantly reduce operations costs. According to global technology intelligence firm ABI Research, XR shipments for after-sales services will increase from 269,000 devices in 2024 to 7.4 million devices in 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 74%, accounting for about 25% of the total XR shipments in the same period.

“The after-sales industry is valued in billions of dollars. It plays a significant role in delivering top-grade services, and the XR ecosystem can innovate the current after-sales services through both in-app guidance and webinars online, providing a more immersive and intuitive mode of training and guidance,” explains Matilda Beinat, Augmented and Virtual Reality Analyst at ABI Research. It can accelerate the speed of knowledge transfer from senior experts to junior technicians, and it can resolve problems faster by detecting real-time faults and acting immediately remotely, increasing Return on Investment (ROI).

XR devices will be adopted more readily, especially as enterprises leverage their advantages through different industries. According to Beinat, “Not only can XR be used to onboard and train new employees faster, but it can also be used to remotely guide customers through preventative maintenance, providing immersive step-by-step guidance on building and setting up a product or service. Customer satisfaction and, most importantly, customer loyalty will come hand in hand with the adoption of XR.

Companies working in XR for after-sales services, such as CareAR, AVEVA, Autodesk Workshop XR, and TeamViewer, have found significant improvements in their after-sales service sectors after adopting XR. CareAR, for example, has been delivering first time fix rates 82% of the time, AVEVA has found a 50% cost reduction, 40% reduction in learning time, 50% boost in productivity, and a 7X increase in knowledge retention. TeamViewer has reduced Cimbali’s time to resolution by 20%, reducing service travel costs by 15%.

“Companies are quickly discovering the potential of XR outside of the most recognized use cases. They are especially discovering XR’s positive and impactful application in after-sales services and remote operations,” Beinat concludes. ABI Research