KPMG: Tech leaders interested in metaverse’s future, not its present

KPMG released a report this week about what tech, media and telecom industry leaders think of the metaverse. The report — which was made as part of the company’s larger metaverse survey, which it also released this week — suggests that these TMT leaders are interested in the metaverse, but not as it exists now: Several of them seem to think the metaverse will have a major impact within the next decade, but are not necessarily allotting resources to it now.

The reports shows that six in ten TMT leaders believe that the metaverse will have an impact after more development. Additionally, nearly 75% of those surveyed report their companies are putting 5% or less of their budgets towards metaverse initiatives. KPMG also reports that most of the respondents feel that metaverse use cases won’t go mainstream for at least another four years. This contrasts KPMG’s survey of investors, who believe that the early investment period in the metaverse may already have passed.

Mark Gibson, KPMG’s global and U.S. TMT leader, said in a statement, “The ultimate vision of the metaverse may not be here today, or tomorrow, or even next year, but it is poised to have a profound impact on the TMT sector. There’s a price for investing heavily in an unknown future, and a price for doing nothing. Our survey identifies plenty of gaps that could leave metaverse laggards trailing their more ambitious competitors as the metaverse market evolves and matures.”

That’s not to say that the respondents’ view of the future is gloomy. About 50% of those surveyed plan to increase their investment in the metaverse, while 43% plan to do so within the next two-to-four years. The post-pandemic period may also free up funds for companies to do more exploratory investing in the metaverse.