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Are You Using the Right XR Training for Work?

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective examines the different types of XR training available on XR headsets. XR training has become one of the most popular use cases for XR in the workplace, providing workers with the information they need to complete a task. Training formats can vary in immersion (i.e., the degree to which a user is provided with virtual objects or placed into a virtual environment) and interaction (i.e., the degree to which a user is a passive consumer of or an active participant with the digital content) to address different training needs.

“XR training helps users develop the skills to complete a task,” said Ramon T. Llamas, research director with IDC’s XR Hardware and Interactive Software team. “By bringing information — including text, pictures, and videos — to the user’s eyes as they need it, workers can concentrate on the task at hand instead of looking to a manual or other resource. Just as there are different ways to build proficiency, there are different ways in which XR can help learners, whether it be with simple step-by-step instructions or a completely virtual environment to develop hands-on skills. Behind the scenes, AI can monitor progress and recommend next steps to take in their learning journey.”

Worldwide XR Headset Market Shares, 2025: Meta Still in the Lead Despite Double-Digit Declines

Ramon T. Llamas — Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC presentation analyzes the worldwide XR headset market, including augmented reality (AR), extended reality (EXR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) by shipment value and shipment volume. Where noted, it includes a comparison against 2024 data.

“2025 marked a year of retrenchment for the worldwide XR market in terms of value and volumes. Most of this was due to Meta’s market-beating declines, but this in turn allowed smaller companies to gain ground, even to the point of posting triple-digit year-over-year growth.” — Ramon T. Llamas, research director, Mobile Devices and AR/VR

Omnicom Prepares for Growth in 2027 as It Digests IPG

Douglas Hayward — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective finds that Omnicom's 2025 progress report highlights robust revenue growth following its acquisition of Interpublic (IPG), but organic growth remains modest and trails rival Publicis Groupe. Omnicom is undergoing significant restructuring, targeting $1.5 billion in cost synergies and divesting nonstrategic assets to streamline operations and focus on higher-growth areas. Omnicom aims to use its expanded portfolio — especially data, commerce, and precision marketing — to drive growth, notably in the lower-funnel areas of commerce and performance marketing.

"The focus for 2026 is on efficiency, integration, and investment in strategic areas, including CX services, positioning Omnicom to potentially accelerate growth and compete more effectively in the evolving marketing landscape," said Douglas Hayward, senior research director for Worldwide Customer Experience Services and Strategies at IDC.

D2D via Satellite in the U.S.: Progress, Policy, and Commercial Viability

Alejandro Cadenas — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Perspective discusses the emergence of direct-to-device (D2D) connectivity in the U.S. as a natural extension of the mobile network, enabled by advances in LEO constellations, 3GPP NTN standardization, and growing integration into consumer devices. Rather than acting as a standalone satellite service, D2D is being positioned as a complementary RAN layer focused on coverage and resilience, with early deployments centered on emergency communications, rural coverage extension, and low-bandwidth IoT use cases. While strong momentum is driven by partnerships between MNOs and satellite operators under frameworks such as the FCC's Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS), the pace of adoption will depend on overcoming key constraints around device readiness, certification complexity, and limited satellite capacity. Over the next three to five years, D2D is expected to evolve from feature-based implementations to a network-native capability embedded within the broader 5G ecosystem.

"D2D in the U.S. should not be viewed as a new connectivity paradigm, but as the natural extension of the mobile network into areas where terrestrial economics break down," said Alejandro Cadenas, associate vice president of Telco Research, IDC. "Its success will depend less on satellite capacity and more on how effectively operators integrate spectrum, devices, and certification into a seamless hybrid experience."

IDC Market Glance: AI-Capable Devices, 2Q26

Tom Mainelli, Linn Huang, Ramon T. Llamas — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Market Glance provides worldwide coverage of AI-capable personal computers, tablets, smartphones, and wearables, together with the enabling platform ecosystem elements defined in the analyst-approved structure, for 2Q26.

The AI-capable devices market includes end-user computing and connected devices that incorporate dedicated AI processing and/or AI-enabled software experiences to improve productivity, creativity, personalization, and automation. These capabilities are becoming an increasingly important factor in shaping device value, user engagement, and ecosystem differentiation across consumer and commercial segments.

Worldwide XR Headset Forecast, 2025-2030: CY 2Q26

Ramon T. Llamas — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC presentation analyzes the future of the XR headset market, including augmented reality (AR), extended reality (EXR), mixed reality (MR), and virtual reality (VR) headsets, with shipments, average selling prices (ASPs), and value breakouts by region and usage segmentation.

“We have taken down our XR headset forecast following Meta’s decision to scale down its hardware. Considering its strong leadership position in the market, Meta’s actions now will have significant implications for the future. Moreover, the addition of new vendors to Android XR beyond Samsung has been slow, and Apple’s plans beyond its Vision Pro device — though updated — have yet to be announced. Meanwhile, multiple smaller vendors have been slowly gaining salience, addressing gamers, multimedia fans, and early adopters. All of this adds up to a decline in volumes in 2026 followed by a slow upward trajectory in 2027 and beyond.” — Ramon T. Llamas, research director, Mobile Devices and AR/VR at IDC

从中国未来"六张网"的建设挖掘数智化商机

Lianfeng Wu — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

本报告围绕2026年全国两会和国家发展改革委提出的"六张网"建设新部署，系统分析中国数智化市场由"企业内部数字化"迈向"产业与城市网络运行数智化"的新趋势。报告首先解读"六张网"，即水网、电网、算力网、新型通信网、城市地下管网、物流网的政策来源、投资逻辑与建设节奏，其次分析六张网建设如何重构数智化市场的价值重心、竞争规则和厂商卡位方式，并分别梳理每张网对应的重点建设方向、关键数智化场景与适配厂商能力。在此基础上，报告进一步总结六张网带来的综合商机，研判未来三年市场演进路径，并提出数智化厂商从卖产品走向占位置、从项目交付走向长期运营的战略建议。

IDC中国副总裁兼首席分析师武连峰表示："中国未来'六张网'建设，正在把数智化市场从传统的数字化补课阶段，推进到国家关键网络协同重构的新阶段。未来厂商竞争的关键，不再只是单一产品能力，而是谁能够围绕水、电、算、数、城、物流等关键网络，形成可调度、可治理、可运营、可持续演进的综合能力。谁能够率先完成从解决方案供应商向网络运行能力共建者的转身，谁就更有机会在未来五年的中国数智化市场中建立新的增长曲线。"

IDC Market Glance: Embedded Finance, 1Q26

Jordan Steele — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

The IDC Market Glance visually depicts a concise current-state view of the embedded finance ecosystem. It is a taxonomy document that defines the market's major segments and subsegments and highlights representative vendors to help technology suppliers and services providers assess competitive positioning, adjacency, and partnership opportunities.

Agentic Commerce Reality and the Last Mile of Human Customer Experiences

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective discusses the importance of agentic commerce. Agentic commerce is beginning to reshape the buyer journey, but in uneven and uncomfortable ways: discovery is rapidly shifting to intent-driven, zero‑click, and agent‑curated results; experiences are becoming highly personalized yet less brand led; transactions are faster but leave accountability murky; fulfillment is quietly optimized rather than reinvented; and post‑purchase may end up as the last real arena for human-differentiated customer experience.

"Agentic commerce is often marketed as a simple story of the inevitability of smarter AI. That's far from true. This is a business soap opera about the dynamics of power, profit, and control," says Heather Hershey, research director of AI-Enabled Digital Commerce at IDC. "The progression of agentic commerce will be asymmetrical across various regions and domains. The result: the need for complex, new operational, and narrative strategies that appeal to humans and agentic AI interfaces concurrently."

Physical AI: Engineering Services Enabling the Next Industrial Revolution

Abhishek Mukherjee, Mukesh Dialani — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Physical AI is transforming industrial operations by embedding advanced AI into physical assets, enabling autonomous, intelligent action in complex environments. This shift drives productivity, safety, and resilience across sectors, but success depends on deep domain expertise, robust integration, and disciplined engineering. Engineering service providers are critical in bridging technical gaps, orchestrating technology, and ensuring sustainable, enterprisewide deployment, positioning physical AI as a core driver of competitive advantage in the next industrial revolution.

"Physical AI is not just automating tasks; it is redefining the boundaries of what machines and humans can achieve together. As advanced intelligence is embedded into the very fabric of industrial assets, the next industrial revolution will be won by those who master the art of seamless integration, resilient engineering, and human-machine collaboration. The future belongs to enterprises bold enough to bridge the execution gap and turn complexity into competitive advantage." — Abhishek Mukherjee, research manager, Digital Engineering and Operational Technology Services, IDC