HTC Corp will step up popularizing the use of virtual reality technology in both the consumer market and the enterprise market, as part of its broader push to better tap into the metaverse, a senior executive said.

As a hot tech buzzword, metaverse refers to a shared virtual environment or digital space created by technologies including VR and augmented reality.

Charles Huang, corporate vice-president of HTC, said there is surging demand for VR devices in a wide range of segments, such as remote conferencing, training, education, healthcare, design and exhibition, and the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered the application of VR equipment.

Huang shared this in an interview with China Daily at the sidelines of the ongoing fifth China International Import Expo, which is being held in Shanghai until Thursday.

According to him, HTC is banking on the business-to-business or B2B segment and attaching great importance to the cooperation with industry partners to develop new applications.

"CIIE is a very good platform for global communication and exchanges. We have accumulated many cases of commercial use of metaverse-related technologies such as VR. We are showcasing them at the expo," Huang said, "Metaverse is not a slogan or a very distant future".

According to him, HTC is working hard to strengthen technological exchanges and information sharing in the metaverse and striving to build an interconnected, mutually beneficial and compatible metaverse ecosystem.

Data from market consultancy International Data Corp showed that the investment scale of the global AR and VR market was close to $14.67 billion in 2021, and is expected to increase to $74.73 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.5 percent.

IDC said the IT-related expenditure in China's AR and VR market reached about $2.13 billion in 2021 and will increase to $13.08 billion in 2026, making it the second-largest market in the world.