The Great Shift in the Metaverse Infrastructure Market by 2026: New Growth Drivers Led by the Convergence of Cloud Computing and 5G
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Explosive Growth and Technological Convergence in the Metaverse Infrastructure Market
As the global metaverse market reaches $182 billion by 2026, it is evolving beyond simple virtual reality experiences into a practical business platform. Notably, the rapid advancement of infrastructure technologies supporting the metaverse is worth attention. The organic combination of cloud computing, 5G networks, AI chipsets, and edge computing is providing unprecedented levels of immersion and interactivity. According to Gartner’s latest report, investments in metaverse-related infrastructure are expected to increase by 68% compared to 2025, reaching $240 billion, with cloud computing accounting for 45%, network infrastructure 28%, and AI hardware 27%.
The core of metaverse infrastructure lies in real-time data processing and the establishment of ultra-low latency network environments. Current metaverse applications require latency of 20-50ms on average, a level difficult to achieve with existing cloud computing architectures. To address these technical challenges, edge computing and distributed rendering technologies are emerging as key solutions. California-based NVIDIA has commercialized distributed rendering technology through its Omniverse platform, significantly enhancing the ability to process complex 3D environments in real-time. According to NVIDIA’s Q4 2025 results, metaverse-related revenue increased by 156% year-over-year, reaching $8.7 billion.
In the Korean market, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are playing leading roles in the high-performance memory semiconductor sector, a key component of metaverse infrastructure. Samsung Electronics plans to release next-generation HBM4 memory by the end of 2025, offering solutions optimized for AI workloads and metaverse rendering. Samsung’s HBM4 provides a 50% increase in bandwidth (1.2TB/s) and a 30% improvement in power efficiency compared to existing HBM3, meeting the large-scale data processing requirements of metaverse environments. SK Hynix has secured about 28% market share in the metaverse server memory market with its Icebolt HBM3E product line and plans to further strengthen its market competitiveness with the HBM4 product scheduled for release in the first half of 2026.
In terms of 5G network infrastructure, Korean telecom companies are playing crucial roles in the global metaverse ecosystem. KT is targeting the B2B market through its ‘Metaverse Platform Gigaverse’ based on its 5G network, securing over 500 corporate clients in 2025 alone. KT’s metaverse-related revenue is projected to grow by 75%, from 120 billion won in 2025 to 210 billion won in 2026. Notably, KT is ensuring stable service quality by providing metaverse-dedicated network bandwidth using network slicing technology.
Evolution of Cloud Computing Platforms Specialized for the Metaverse
As the metaverse market matures, cloud computing platforms are evolving into services specialized for metaverse workloads. Washington-based Microsoft has integrated ‘Mixed Reality Services’ into its Azure cloud platform, offering comprehensive infrastructure solutions to metaverse developers. Microsoft’s Azure Mixed Reality Services provide features such as spatial anchoring, real-time voice processing, and holographic rendering as cloud services, enabling developers to create high-quality metaverse applications without complex infrastructure setups. As of Q4 2025, Azure’s Mixed Reality Services revenue increased by 234% year-over-year, reaching $1.5 billion.
California-based Meta is building its own cloud infrastructure to support its metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds. Meta invested $18 billion in cloud infrastructure in 2025, a 45% increase from the previous year. Notably, Meta has significantly enhanced real-time avatar rendering and physics simulation performance by extensively adopting NVIDIA H100 GPUs in its data centers. Meta’s Reality Labs division achieved $1.8 billion in revenue in 2025, a 67% increase from the previous year, although its operating loss reached $13.4 billion, highlighting the substantial initial investment costs impacting short-term profitability.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a cloud-based 3D development environment to metaverse developers through its ‘Amazon Sumerian’ platform. AWS’s metaverse-related services recorded $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025, particularly strong in the enterprise virtual meetings and education solutions sectors. AWS is delivering optimized performance for metaverse workloads using its Graviton3 processors and Trainium chips, achieving 40% improved performance and 60% enhanced power efficiency compared to existing x86-based solutions.
Google Cloud offers browser-based metaverse experiences through its ‘Immersive Stream’ service. This service allows users to access high-quality 3D metaverse content through web browsers without additional software installation. Google’s Immersive Stream service secured 12 million users in 2025, with high utilization in the education and retail sectors. Google leverages its TPU (Tensor Processing Unit) to provide real-time AI-based content generation and personalization services, implementing customized metaverse experiences for each user.
In Korea, Naver Cloud Platform has built dedicated cloud infrastructure to support the ‘ZEPETO’ platform. ZEPETO surpassed 400 million cumulative users by 2025, with 8 million daily active users (DAU). Naver Cloud Platform has established eight edge data centers in the Asia-Pacific region to support ZEPETO’s global expansion, ensuring an average latency of less than 15ms per region. Based on this infrastructure investment, ZEPETO’s 2025 revenue increased by 89% year-over-year, reaching 185 billion won.
Another notable trend in the metaverse infrastructure market is the increasing importance of edge computing. Centralized cloud computing alone cannot meet the real-time interaction requirements of the metaverse, making edge computing essential for processing data near users. According to market research firm IDC, the metaverse-related edge computing market is expected to grow from $34 billion in 2025 to $120 billion by 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 52%. This growth is supported by the proliferation of 5G networks and the performance improvements of AI chipsets.
LG Electronics is attempting to differentiate itself in the smart display market by optimizing its webOS platform for the metaverse environment. LG’s new OLED displays support a 120Hz refresh rate and 1ms response time, significantly enhancing the immersion of metaverse content. LG Electronics’ display division recorded $2.8 billion in metaverse-related revenue in 2025, a 145% increase from the previous year, with strong performance in the enterprise metaverse solutions market. LG is also developing solutions to control IoT devices in virtual spaces by integrating its ThinQ AI platform with the metaverse environment.
The competitive landscape of the metaverse infrastructure market is characterized by complex competition among technology platform providers, hardware manufacturers, telecom companies, and cloud service providers. Each company is striving to secure its position in the metaverse ecosystem based on its core competencies, accelerating innovation across the industry. Particularly, Korean companies are playing significant roles in the metaverse market, leveraging their global competitiveness in key technology areas such as memory semiconductors, displays, and communication infrastructure.
Looking at the future prospects of the metaverse infrastructure market, AI-based content auto-generation technology is expected to be commercialized in earnest from the second half of 2026. This will significantly reduce metaverse content production costs and enable personalized experiences. Additionally, as 6G network standardization progresses, new metaverse experiences that surpass current technological limitations are anticipated. Industry experts predict that the metaverse infrastructure market will grow to $800 billion by 2030, and it remains to be seen whether current technology leaders can maintain their market dominance through continuous innovation.
The success of the metaverse infrastructure market depends not only on technological excellence but also on collaboration and standardization with ecosystem partners, as well as continuous improvement of user experience. The true potential of the metaverse market is expected to be realized when the hardware technology capabilities of Korean companies combine with the software capabilities of global platform companies.
This analysis is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as investment advice or recommendations. All investment decisions should be made based on individual judgment and responsibility.
