AR market to be worth $1.2B by 2015, thanks to games

Thanks to the ongoing uprise of augmented reality video games, the AR market will hit total worldwide revenues of $1.2 billion by 2015, up from $180 million in 2013. That's according to a new report from Juniper Research. The research firm says that games are the largest factor in this market explosion -- games accounted for more than 40 percent of AR downloads in 2013, and the firm says this can only increase in the foreseeable future. And Juniper forecasts that AR revenues won't stop there. Within 5-6 years, the company believes that annual AR revenues from all potential sectors, including games, lifestyle applications, enterprise and general entertainment apps, will each see in excess of $1 billion in revenue, making the AR market rather significant. Revenues will be primarily driven by apps and games on smartphones and tablets, continues the report, although wearable AR devices like Google Glass and Samsung's rumored smart glasses will provide "considerable potential for AR app monetization" for developers. In terms of people utilizing AR apps and games, Juniper estimates that by 2018 there will be around 200 million AR users.