The competition between the two countries with the largest economies in the
world, the United States versus China, continues in various fields.
Recently, the two of them started competing to enter the metaverse business.
Metaverse is a virtual world that allows people to interact and perform
activities like in the real world. Through the metaverse, users can attend
virtual concerts, order food at restaurants, play games and buy houses
online.
Secretly, Chinese companies are also launching a lot of metaverse
businesses. China's Metaverse Industry Committee has accepted 17 new
companies, three of which are issuers.
The China Metaverse Industry Committee was established in October 2021,
supported by a state-owned telecommunications company, China Mobile. Some
analysts expect the country's metaverse to be subject to greater control
than other countries.
Based on a post on the China Mobile Communications Association Metaverse
Consensus website as reported by Reuters, Wednesday (16/2), the committee
revealed that it had recognized listed companies including Inly Media Co Ltd
and two companies listed on the Shenzhen exchange, Beijing Topnew
Info&Tech Co Ltd and Beijing Quanshi World. Online Network Information
Co Ltd.
Experts say China's metaverse efforts lag behind countries like the US and
South Korea, arguing domestic tech giants' interest in the metaverse is
lower.
However, recently interest has started to soar. Last year, more than 1,000
companies including heavyweights such as Alibaba Group Holding (9988.HK),
and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) had filed for about 10,000 trademarks
related to the metaverse.
In the US, a growing number of global corporations have adopted the
metaverse platform since Facebook introduced the concept for the first time.
For example, there are McDonald's, Nike, Samsung, YouTube and others.
McDonald's has registered a number of trademarks for its virtual restaurant
service that allows for online and in-person food delivery. Not quite one,
the fast food chain even registered 10 applications with the United States
(US) Patent and Trademark Office on February 4 which includes McDonald's and
McCafe.
One of the trademarks proposed is in the form of virtual food and beverage
products, including NFT. The rest, patent filings for the operation of an
online virtual restaurant featuring home delivery of food.
Later trademarks for entertainment services and events under McDonald's and
McCafe, including actual and virtual concerts online. This trademark will
protect the idea of a McDonald's restaurant in the metaverse that can sell
both virtual and real-world food.
Not to be outdone, bakery chain in America, Panera Bread also filed a
trademark for Paneraverse on February 3 last which includes NFT, virtual
entertainment services, and virtual gifts programs.
Meanwhile Nike has founded Metaverse Studio and has patented plans for
virtual assets ranging from avatars to cryptokicks. Meanwhile Gucci,
Microsoft, and Crocs are looking for employees to work on their metaverse
offerings.
Samsung had already gone ahead with the launch of the Galaxy S22 phone
through the metaverse last week. The launch can be seen on the virtual
reality platform, Decentraland, which is still part of the metaverse.
Samsung has a virtual building in Decentraland which is located at 837X. The
building, which was launched last February 2020, is also a playground for
crypto activists, as it can connect members' crypto wallets and buy plots of
land as NFTs.
The mentaverse effect also extends to the property sector. MetaMetric
Solutions noted that property sales across the four four major metaverse
platforms will reach US$ 501 million in 2021. It is estimated that property
sales could virtually reach US$ 1 billion this year.
A report from BrandEssence Market Research predicts the metaverse property
market will grow at an annual rate of 31% per year from 2022 to 2028.
So far, property sales are concentrated in four big companies such as
Sandbox, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium. Sandbox dominates the
market, with 62% of land available across four platforms and three-quarters
of all land sales by 2022.
YouTube is also planning to develop blockchain and metaverse this year.
Through the technology, the company hopes to suppress fraud in the digital
art market as well as offer a viewing experience for game content.
Over the past year, the world's largest streaming service has strived to
provide users with better guidance on upcoming features amid increasing
competition from TikTok ByteDance Inc and Instagram Meta Platforms Inc.