Meeting in the Metaverse requires chip innovation

85% of semiconductor executives state that the metaverse will have a positive impact on their organizations, with 48% saying it will have a breakthrough or transformational impact. Thus, it’s no surprise that our annual Technology Vision focuses on how the Metaverse Continuum will transform every aspect of business. This is a defining moment for the leaders in the semiconductor industry.

As our digital and physical worlds blur and uncertainty exists between what is real and what is not, there are many exciting possibilities around the metaverse. Clearly, how people experience the Internet is being reimagined and companies need to be ready for what comes next.

Many companies are already embracing the metaverse. For example, last year, Louis Vuitton celebrated its second centenary through an adventure-based game, following the character of Vivienne through six worlds and collecting 200 candles to commemorate the birthday of Vuitton. Other companies such as Siemens and Hyundai have even used virtual worlds for hiring and people management.

What many people do not realize is the role semiconductors are playing in the future metaverse, from the ongoing evolution in chip technology to the manufacturing intelligence in artificial intelligence. We surveyed over 100 semiconductor executives, with over 1/3 (37%) hailing from the U.S. and Japan and they painted a compelling picture of how the semiconductor industry can shape how to meet in the metaverse. In addition, the semiconductor companies themselves are well positioned to play a role in the next evolution of computing. In fact, 96% of semiconductor industry executives believe continuous advances in technology are becoming more reliable than economic, political, or social trends in informing their organization’s long-term strategy. Other key findings from our survey include:

It’s no surprise the industry sits at an exciting crossroad. While it’s creating the chips that will transform how we live and work tomorrow, executives are also leveraging these technologies today to make their organizations ready to deploy these innovations smarter and faster.

For example, the semiconductor industry arguably plays a prominent role in shaping the programmable world, creating the unreal and delivering on computing the impossible. Their executives are keenly aware their products are powering innovation breakthroughs today while developing the transformational technologies tomorrow.

• 63% of semiconductor executives report their organizations are using AI today.

• 93% of semiconductor executives believe that High Performance Computing (HPC) has the potential to solve previously unsolvable problems.

• 63% of semiconductor executives indicated they believe quantum computing will have a breakthrough or transformational impact on the organization in the next one to two years.

Equally important is how these innovations impact those they touch, inside and outside of the workplace. They’re powering devices that also deliver additional benefits beyond intelligent operations:

• 60% of semiconductor executives report noted a significant increase in IoT / edge device deployment in their organization over the last three years. In fact, VMware’s CEO sees edge computing growing faster than on-prem cloud computing.
  
  
• Almost half (46%) of semiconductor executives would consider using AR for the customer experience in the next three years, followed by customer service at 40%. Microsoft believes 90% of Americans value customer service as a deciding factor in whether or not to do business with a brand. Most semiconductor executives (39%) see AR’s most expected internal benefit as improved professional development.

The industry continues to hover between two worlds: the art of the possible and the reality of the probable manifested in their core product offerings. Our Technology Vision highlights the former and is rooted in the latter.

Accenture can work with semiconductor leaders to reimagine how to approach their business with this in mind. While the metaverse is in the early days, the time to act is now in order to build new ways to engage with customers, partners and their digital workforce.