In its 2018 predictions, analyst firm IDC prognosticated the following will happen by 2019:
50% of manufacturers will be collaborating directly with customers and consumers regarding new and improved product designs through cloud-based crowd-sourcing, virtual reality, and product virtualization, realizing up to 25% improvement in product success rates. (This is prediction #5 in the IndustryWeek article discussing IDC’s Top 10 predictions.)