Text/VR Gyro Pancake
Introduction: If the biggest change in the VR/AR market in 2021 will be the 6DoF VR all-in-one C-end shipment of more than 10 million units; and Byte's acquisition of Pico to join the VR/AR battle. Since last year, combined with the meta-universe boom, the market attention of VR/AR seems to be back to 2016, and the mobile phone manufacturers who smell market opportunities are back!
There is a classic joke in the technology digital circle: "Xiaomi has done a good job in everything except mobile phones."
Nowadays, mobile phone manufacturers have become a magical synonym, because these manufacturers often do not only do mobile phones, but also involve tablets, laptops, smart TVs, smart speakers, air conditioning washing machines and even new energy vehicles and other businesses.
With the loyal users and brand influence accumulated in the mobile phone industry, every time they extend the industry or cross-border creation, they will win huge traffic attention.
The entry of mobile phone manufacturers will not only stimulate the intensification of competition in the original industry market, but also lead to a reshuffle of the entire industry. Now, many mobile phone manufacturers are targeting the "next economic growth point" in VR/AR, which is considered to be the next generation of computing platforms.
The mobile phone manufacturers on the AR track have gone farther than one
In fact, creating a VR/AR (especially VR) product is not difficult for mobile phone manufacturers.
Smartphones and VR/AR products originally have a high degree of overlap in the supply chain, such as processors, displays (VR), RAM, ROMs, IC power management and other core components. Generally, as long as the funds are in place, the foundry manufacturer can do a complete set of programs, and the brand owner can use it.
Relying on the mature supply system, strong brand effect, and hundreds of millions of users, under the capital boom of the meta-universe, many mobile phone manufacturers have opened their journey of exploration, or restart journey.
(a) Entering the game again, this time Xiaomi aimed at AR
As one of the earliest companies in China to explore VR/AR, Xiaomi is no stranger to VR/AR. In 2016, Xiaomi once released a VR box (used with mobile phones); in 2018, it launched the Xiaomi VR all-in-one machine, the agent introduced Meta's Oculus Go, and the domestic content ecology was operated independently by Xiaomi, but because the hardware only supported 3DoF at that time, it could not get an immersive experience, and at that time, it could only rely on the introduction of overseas content to maintain a relatively high-quality content ecology, and finally the business did not continue to operate in the Xiaomi system, and the VR team was officially disbanded in 2019.
After three years, in September 2021, Xiaomi announced its return to XR again, which is different from the previous business in that it focused on AR this time, and officially announced its concept product - Xiaomi Smart Glasses Exploration Edition.
Image source: Network
According to official information, this device will be equipped with MicroLED + diffracted optical waveguide optical solution, integrated 497 micro sensors and communication modules, equipped with quad-core ARM processor, battery, touchpad, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth module, etc., running on the Android system, the product weight is only 51g.
In terms of application scenarios, Xiaomi said that it can realize functions such as information display, call, navigation, taking photos, teleprompters, images and self-developed voice real-time translation.
Xiaomi has built a future VISION of the product form of AR smart glasses, "volume to do subtraction, scene to do increment", while ensuring the 51g thin and light volume, the integration of so many modules, which is also the main development direction of the entire XR industry chain.
Based on mass production capacity, yield, cost, and application ecology issues, the current Xiaomi Smart Glasses Exploration Edition is still in the early display stage and will not be really launched in a short period of time.
(2) The giant "woke up", and Samsung is developing two AR products
Also from VR to AR, Samsung, which has been silent for two years, finally has a new action.
Samsung is one of the world's largest smartphone giants, in addition, it also has a very mature, perfect underlying supply chain, from chips to displays, batteries, production lines can be described as readily available, is a well-deserved technology giant, Samsung cut into VR/AR hardware from the existing industry chain layout point of view is easy.
Since 2014, Samsung has been actively embracing VR, AR, it is one of the first technology giants to cut into VR, in 2015 began to launch the box VR product "Gear VR" series, and won millions of units of sales, and laid the foundation for Oculus (Meta) VR app store; in 2017 as Microsoft's "ally" launched PC VR devices...
According to the latest news from South Korea's "Electronic Times" in early March this year, Samsung is cooperating with Microsoft to develop Hololens 3 on the one hand, and on the other hand, Samsung is also independently developing its own AR devices.
Samsung's AR device is said to be integrated with an Exynos processor, and the prototype of the device has been completed, but the release date is undecided.
Compared with many startups or traditional enterprises cutting into VR/AR hardware, Samsung has obvious advantages, as mentioned above, it has a relatively complete supply chain, has full autonomy in production, and is less affected by the global supply chain environment. Moreover, Samsung's global operation and channel advantages are also difficult for many VR/AR hardware companies to match.
(3) OPPO: Take a substantial step towards exploring consumer-grade AR
OPPO is an old player in the AR industry and has released a number of AR products, but this time, it is the first product for external sales, and it is also an important step for OPPO to explore consumer-grade AR.
OPPO is a mobile phone manufacturer with a relatively large investment in the VR/AR track. Last year, OPPO released its third generation of smart glasses - OPPO Air Glass, priced at 4999 yuan, and officially launched in March 2022.
OPPO Air Glass products use a monocular split solution, the product weight is only 30g, the thickness is 1.3mm.
In terms of core configuration, OPPO Air Glass is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 wearable device platform, which integrates the self-developed Spark micro optical machine, Micro LED microdisplay (single green) and custom diffracted optical waveguide technology, which can achieve an average eye brightness of 1400 nits.
In terms of scene applications, OPPO Air Glass provides users with a variety of application cards, including OPPO's own applications and third-party applications, supporting cycling navigation, speech teleprompters, schedule reminders and other functions. It also supports four interactive modes: touch, voice, gesture and head movement control.
OPPO Air Glass is one of the few lightweight AR glasses in China that uses diffracted optical waveguide + Micro LED, although it only supports single green display, and the application scenario is limited, but it is at the forefront of AR's consumption exploration in the C-end. In addition to hardware, OPPO has a layout at the level of AR's content ecology, underlying algorithms, and development tools.
(4) From AR to XR chips, vivo cuts in from the bottom layer
Vivo's external caliber, like Apple's, is very conservative, whether it is in the new smart phone products or in the VR/AR industry layout.
Of course, there is no impermeable wall in the world, and the careful gyro Jun found its relevant recruitment information on the pulse earlier. Vivo's recruitment information on the pulse shows that it is openly recruiting XR (VR, AR, MR) chip technology planning positions, with a salary of 70-90K, base Shanghai, requiring a bachelor's degree or above, and work experience of 5-10 years.
It is reported that vivo has a research and development center in Shanghai, and has also openly recruited a large number of chip-related talents earlier, and its first chip vivo v1 (ISP) was officially unveiled at last year's X70 series conference and applied to flagship mobile phones.
Vivo's entry point on VR/AR is a more peculiar of many intelligent hardware manufacturers, directly aiming at the most core and most difficult chips, which may be the experience that Vivo has gained over the years in the mobile phone market - if it cannot control the underlying supply chain, it is foreseeable that the "lessons learned" encountered on smart phones today will be staged again on the XR track.
In addition, with its own design capabilities, vivo can also be more free to create the chips it wants, make differentiated products, and continuously enlarge its advantages like Apple.
Of course, Vivo's exploration of the XR industry is not a whim. As early as 2019, vivo showed its first AR glasses at MWC 2019, which are split AR and need to be connected to 5G mobile phones.
Vivo introduced in detail the functions of this AR glasses at that time, including five major directions such as small games, cinema, intelligent recognition, facial recognition, and remote office.
It is a pity that the BLUEPRINT of AR glasses painted by Vivo has not really appeared in the subsequent consumer market, and now the research and development layout based on the XR chip seems to let us see another force of Vivo, and its layout is farther away.
Mobile phone manufacturers on the VR track: acquisition, momentum, expansion
Compared with the mixed ARC track and the complex AR glasses of VR optics, the VR headset from product design to mass production is relatively simple, and the application track at the C end is also running more smoothly.
(1) Huawei's VR layout and future momentum
Huawei has always had a product layout in the VR/AR industry. As early as 2016, Huawei launched a mobile phone box VR hardware product.
By 2019, it will launch a short-throw vr headset Huawei VR Glass, and in November 2021, it will upgrade to a 6DoF version - Huawei VR Glass 6DoF game set. The game set includes a VR goggle, a pair of gamepads, a visual module and a heat retention clip.
In terms of product configuration, Huawei VR Glass uses the Pancake short-throw optical solution, which greatly reduces the size and weight of the headset, the headset weighs only 188g, adopts an LCD screen, has a field of view of 90 degrees, and can be connected to external devices such as mobile phones and PCs with USB-C cables.
In terms of price, huawei VR Glass 6DoF game set is priced at 3999 yuan; if you have previously purchased Huawei VR Glass, you can also choose 6DoF positioning interaction kit, which is sold for 1999 yuan alone.
Compared with the VR all-in-one machines of Pico, iQiyi and NOLO, the price of Huawei's VR Glass 6DoF game set is relatively high, coupled with the split design that must be used with Huawei mobile phones, which limits the use scenarios of the product, so it has not stirred up much waves in the C-end market.
In addition, Huawei also has a layout in the VR content ecosystem, from content platform construction and development of SDK tools to content introduction and developer-related events.
Due to the restriction of related chips, the obstruction of the supply chain, the epidemic and other factors, Huawei's consumer business has not been smooth sailing in the past two years. According to its 2021 annual report, Huawei's revenue last year was 636.8 billion yuan, down 28% year-on-year, and the consumer business of the three major businesses fell by 49.6%.
That said, Huawei's influence in the industry remains significant. It has a self-developed HiSilicon Kirin chip, a full-scenario Harmony OS distributed operating system, a digital twin basic tool Huawei River Map, a VR/AR development SDK... Its accumulation in many fields such as smart phones, intelligent driving, and the cloud will become an important foundation and barrier for its layout of VR/AR.
(ii) The Red Devil Meta universe, from game phones to VR
Founded in 2018 and owned by ZTE-controlled Nubia Technology Co., Ltd., Red Devils is one of the few brand of positioning gaming mobile phones in China, and its series of mobile phone products has been sought after by many gamers since its launch.
However, in recent years, with the improvement of the underlying chip process and performance, the optimization of major manufacturers in the system, heat dissipation and other software and hardware, the competition in the domestic mobile phone market has further increased, and the advantages of game mobile phones are difficult to highlight, and they are no longer the first choice for enthusiasts.
As a smart hardware brand that focuses on games, VR headsets have also become a new direction that can be expanded outside the smartphone Red Sea market.
On January 20, 2022, the Red Devils Mobile officially announced the "Red Devil Meta universe concept". Yu Hang, senior vice president of Nubia Technology Co., Ltd., said: "In 2022, we will lay out VR ecological products and create a Red Devil Meta Universe; give full play to the core technical advantages to create a soft and hard collaborative VR ecosystem; and build a Red Devil professional game equipment brand.
At present, the main application scenarios of VR are mainly movies and games, which is very consistent with the brand positioning and user attributes of Red Devils themselves.
(3) Acquire mobile phone manufacturer Black Shark, Tencent will cut into VR hardware
If the Red Devils are actively entering VR, then the Black Sharks are forced to "open".
On January 10, 2022, according to multiple sources, Tencent intends to acquire game mobile phone company Black Shark Technology for 2.7 billion, and after the acquisition, Black Shark as a whole will be merged into the Tencent Group Platform and Content Business Group (PCG) led by Ren Yuxin.
Once the transaction is completed, the hardware manufacturer, which is mainly based on game phones, will also usher in business transformation after being acquired, from game phones to VR devices, becoming an important part of Tencent's hardware and the core hardware entrance to the True Internet.
Tencent, which proposed the true Internet in 2020, has repeatedly expressed its emphasis on VR/AR technology before this year, according to rumors, Tencent has built a new XR business department internally in February this year, and there are more than 40 open positions in the internal living water recruitment, covering the three directions of content ecology, operation and technology research and development.
Tencent re-entered the hardware products, whether it can win the market, let us wait and see.
(iv) It is only a matter of time before Apple VR/AR is released
As the world's leading technology giant, Apple's product and business development has always attracted the attention of the industry. Product information about Apple VR/AR has also been circulating for many years, but it has not seen a product release.
Regarding the form and parameter configuration of Apple's VR/AR products, there have been many rumors on the market, such as the Apple AR/VR headset codenamed "N301" with both AR and VR functions; more than a dozen cameras equipped with eye tracking cameras, built-in Reality OS systems, etc., coupled with the relevant patents released by Apple, it is certain that Apple will inevitably launch VR/AR devices.
According to Patentlyapple data, Apple currently has 94 patents for virtual reality and augmented reality, and 339 patents for headsets and smart glasses.
Consistent with Apple's smartphone ecology, Apple seems to continue its closed ecology on the XR track, from the underlying chips, systems, interactive technologies to content development tools, platforms, all hands-on, in order to create its differentiated advantages.
Regarding the date of Apple's VR/AR product launch, from 2023 to 2025, there are almost all related rumors, although there is no exact release date, but it is foreseeable that it is in the near future.
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According to the VR gyro multi-party understanding, there are three mobile phone manufacturers also have VR/AR related layout and tendencies, two of which are old mobile phone manufacturers, and the other is an Internet brand mobile phone manufacturer that has just separated from the big factory, and it is expected that new products or further news can be seen in these two years.
Mobile phone manufacturers vs established start-ups, VR/AR market pattern will change
IDC data shows that in 2021, the global smartphone shipments will be 1.3548 billion units, and the top five are Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, which account for 70.9% of global mobile phone shipments, and the annual shipments of each mobile phone manufacturer are in the 100 million level.
Such a huge number of C-end users, so that mobile phone manufacturers in the business expansion, are full of confidence, but also to the VR /AR industry veteran players bring great pressure, because from the capital, channels, marketing, talent and many other dimensions, startups are difficult to match.
However, from the current action of mobile phone manufacturers, most of them are still in a semi-wait-and-see state, and most companies have not promoted VR/AR to a strategic level in the true sense.
The reason is still "timing", VR's C-end market has not really ushered in an outbreak, and AR is earlier.
According to the Gyro Research Institute, the global shipment of VR headsets in 2021 was 11.1 million units, an increase of 66% over 2020, of which Oculus Quest 2 annual sales were as high as 8.8 million units. Global AR shipments will be 570,000 units in 2021, up 44% from 2020.
Although VR/AR is growing steadily every year, the current volume is still very different from smart phones, and the total annual shipments of VR/AR products are less than 1/10 of the annual shipments of smart phones, which is also the core reason why mobile phone manufacturers have always maintained a wait-and-see attitude.
In the final analysis, it is obvious that the inflection point of the quantitative change can be seen, that is, the timing of mobile phone manufacturers to enter the game in a big way. This inflection point is likely to be Apple's entry, according to the customary style of the consumer electronics industry, the biggest role brought by Apple's entry is not only to define the VR/AR terminal form, application scenarios, but also an important signal for this track to move towards large-scale.
At that time, a number of mobile phone manufacturers led by Apple will launch a new round of market competition with a number of veteran VR/AR manufacturers led by Meta.