According to the findings of a poll conducted in collaboration by Nikkei Asia and the Cyber Creative Institute, the two nations are responsible for more than 75% of the submissions made for the top 20 metaverse apps in the globe out of a total of 7,760 applicants since 2016.

The United States of America holds the top slot with almost 56%, and South Korea's corporations are in second place with 19%. After enterprises from these two countries come businesses from China with 12% and businesses from Japan with 8%.

The survey, on the other hand, evaluated around 20 patent groups in the metaverse, augmented reality, and virtual reality spaces. These spaces involve many markets such as the United States of America, Japan, Europe, and other areas.

It is interesting to note that LG Electronics, a South Korean multinational electronics manufacturer, has submitted the most patent applications related to the metaverse since 2016, closely followed by Samsung Electronics, its competitor.

In the meanwhile, businesses based in South Korea have already begun incorporating non-fungible token (NFT) trading into some of the smart TVs in their product lines since the beginning of the year.

Alongside Sony Electronics of Japan and Huawei of China, corporate behemoths like Meta, Intel, and Apple lead the top 20 metaverse patent application list for the United States.

The Realities Behind Meta's Investment in the Metaverse

Following the renaming of the well-known social media firm to Meta in the previous year, the company's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, discussed the goals he had for the forthcoming digital environment. It is anticipated that the metaverse will signify the existence of yet another alternate reality within the digital realm that will be accessible via VR devices.

Meta predicts that during the next ten years, the industry of the metaverse will generate one billion dollars annually. Despite this, Meta's vision for the virtual environment that is based upon decentralized technologies is still in its infancy a year after it was first presented.

As a result of its poor performance, the firm is having trouble convincing investors about the possibilities of its metaverse project. Additionally, the company's revenue has decreased by more than 20% during this time period.

Despite this, Zuckerberg continues to maintain his optimism on the metaverse project. He contended that it would be the internet of the future, complete with avatars that could be customized and immersive digital environments.

As the globe began to emerge from the lockdown caused by COVID-19, Zuckerberg made a pledge to create a platform where users could electronically engage with one another and their friends, as well as host events. The name was originally Facebook, but it was changed to Meta because of the ambitious goals that were driving this notion.

The much-touted positive financial picture of what the virtual world might eventually become has not been successful in increasing the adoption rate. For instance, the pioneer metaverse platform created by Meta, known as Horizon Worlds, has had a hard time attracting members.

According to the information provided by the firm, the number of users is now lower than 200,000, despite the fact that the company has a monthly target of 500,000 users by the end of 2022. Furthermore, the lack of user appeal of the metaverse extends to Meta's employees, with many of them not being fascinated with the concept of a virtual world for their work or leisure activities.