Electronics

Starting in the fourth quarter of 2020, a number of VR content and hardware companies have completed large amounts of financing. According to incomplete statistics from reporters, in June 2021 alone, there were 22 investment and financing cases in the VR field worldwide, with a total amount of US$267 million. This round of investment and financing craze carried games, sports, medical and other application fields, as well as self-technology development and other fields to promote the development of the VR industry to form a certain boost, and also promote the in-depth development of VR terminal product prices, games and content applications.

Involved in multiple applications

According to the statistics of reporters, in June 2021, this round of investment and financing boom will involve games, education, training, telemedicine, audio, children’s catering, remote control robots, 3D cloud platform and many other application fields. Expansion and other aspects promote development.

In terms of technology development, the Finnish AR startup Dispelix raised 10 million euros to realize the daily use of optical waveguides and promote the development of full-color laser beam scanning projection technology, which will realize AR glasses suitable for daily use, even if they are worn all day, they will not feel burdened. . Porotech, which was spun off by the University of Cambridge, announced that it has raised £3 million to fund the next stage of development of its unique Micro-LED production technology to create brighter, clearer and more vivid micro-displays.

In terms of application expansion, the game creation platform Game Creator has completed a new round of tens of millions of Pre-A rounds of financing. British immersive party game provider Electric Gamebox announced that it has received US$11 million in A2 round of financing; Japanese VR game developer MyDearest announced that it has received 900 million yen in financing to strengthen development and creative creation capabilities.

VR social networking is not only a place for users to conduct online activities and virtual gatherings, but also becomes a unique cultural phenomenon closely related to the Internet. VRChat recently completed $80 million in Series D financing to prepare for the growth of VR social. This is the second large financing for VR social this year. In March of this year, another VR social platform RecRoom completed a large financing of 100 million US dollars. .

XRHealth, a US VR/AR telemedicine provider, announced that it has received another 9 million US dollars in financing. By combining VR headsets with immersive technology, patients can interact with doctors at home.

In the field of education and training, the Irish VR company VR Education announced that it has received 9 million euros in funding through allotment financing. Engage, a VR education social platform, has received US$10 million in financing to provide businesses, schools and educators with a VR platform in the classroom scene. VR training platform Virti completed the A round of financing and received a financing amount of 10 million US dollars.

In addition, Swedish VR/AR audio technology company Dirac raised US$17.73 million through equity financing; AR children’s catering application company The Village Co received A$1.2 million in financing to develop AR products that children can use when eating; Japan’s VR remote-controlled robot company Telexistence raised approximately 2.2 billion yen in financing to help develop and introduce new products in retail stores and logistics.

From a domestic perspective, the digital creative software company Wanxing Technology has completed its investment in Guangzhou Gravitational Wave Information Technology Co., Ltd., a real-time 3D cloud platform provider; Shenzhen Huiniu Technology, the world’s first CA optical mass production supplier, announced the completion of a round of financing. The funds will be used to expand AR module production capacity and new technology research and development.

IDC predicts that during the five-year forecast period from 2020 to 2024, the market share of VR games will continue to lead, and the total expenditure will reach 2.72 billion U.S. dollars in 2020; AR/VR training is widely used in the consumer sector Among other industry sectors, the market share of this scenario ranks second in 2020, with a total of US$980 million.

Strategic focus shifted to the consumer market

Looking at the domestic market, in the 14th Five-Year Plan, VR, as a key technology sector of the government’s focus, will vigorously promote technical support and investment in related fields, including promoting the construction of new network infrastructure, and opening up AR/VR commercial and consumer application scenarios. Deepen international cooperation and establish a global supply chain, etc.

In this round of investment and financing boom, digital creative software company Wanxing Technology has completed its investment in real-time 3D cloud platform provider Guangzhou Gravity Wave Information Technology Co., Ltd. This is Wanxing Technology's first investment in the VR/AR industry. The relevant person in charge of Wanxing Technology stated that this investment is a forward-looking layout of the company for the XR era. It will not only help promote business collaborative development, but also is expected to help the company gain first-mover advantages in the XR market and key 3D tools and software.

Shenzhen Huiniu Technology is the world's first CA optical mass production supplier, mainly developing the "coaxial air guide" (CA) and ultra-thin VR optical module (VR-UT) of AR glasses. It announced the completion of the A round of financing, and the funds will be Used to expand AR module production capacity and new technology research and development.

According to IDC data, the total spending on AR/VR-related products and services in the Chinese market in 2020 accounted for more than half of the global market share (approximately 55%), and the overall market size in China will reach approximately US$6.6 billion by the end of 2020 , A year-on-year increase of 72.1% compared to 2019, surpassing the United States and Japan in terms of scale and growth rate, ranking first in the world. At the same time, the 5-year (2020-2024) CAGR of the Chinese market will also remain at a level of approximately 47.1%. From the perspective of growth rate, the financial industry's share of China's AR/VR expenditures shows great market development potential, and the CAGR will reach 74.5% in five years (2020-2024).

IDC predicts that China's AR/VR market will begin to grow substantially from 2021, and the AR/VR market compound growth rate will reach 77.2% in the next five years. Zhao Siquan, an analyst at IDC's China Terminal System Research Department, said that the current domestic VR headset manufacturers' competitive landscape has undergone significant changes this year. For a long time in the past, they have been paying attention to the commercial market with education and training as a typical scenario. Since the beginning of this year, with the advent of low-cost all-in-one products, many manufacturers have shifted their strategic focus to the consumer market. Different manufacturers have made new strategic choices in the new outlet according to their own characteristics and product positioning, which will surely bring new challenges to the competitive landscape. Variety.

Terminal products enhance immersive experience

Nowadays, some VR products enhance the immersive experience in all aspects of audio, vision, and interaction. For example, the Pico Neo 3 and HTC Vive Focus 3 all-in-one products are equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2 processor specifically designed for XR products. The Snapdragon XR2 is the world's first XR platform that supports 5G connections. The new PCVR product Vive Pro 2 released by HTC has achieved 5K resolution and 120HZ high refresh rate.

Even though the form of VR products is slightly different from the main market, the downward trend in prices has already appeared. On July 9th, Stan Larroque, CEO of French VR startup Lynx, announced that it would significantly reduce the price of the upcoming R1 MR headset to a few hundred dollars. The target audience is C-end consumers. The Pico Neo 3 has reached the same level as the Oculus quest 2 in terms of hardware parameters and pricing. Its starting price of 2,499 yuan has dropped by nearly 45% compared to the price of the Pico Neo 2 launched a year ago. The Nolo Sonic with a starting price of 1999 yuan released in mid-May has become the lowest-priced 6DOF VR all-in-one on the market. The era of VR headsets moving more than one thousand yuan is over. Zhao Siquan said that starting from Quest 2’s $299, VR vendors have followed Facebook’s pace and kept the price close to the hardware cost. Under the current technology and industrial chain costs, there is little room for price reduction.

Zhao Siquan said that this has marked the complete departure of consumer-level VR headsets from the era of "light luxury", reflecting the determination of VR hardware headset manufacturers to conquer the consumer market, but domestic hardware headset manufacturers are also facing whether they can find a powerful similar to Facebook. The content ecological profit model is under severe pressure.

Zhao Siquan also emphasized that at the moment, supporting games and content applications are gradually enriched, and demands other than music games are yet to be released. It is understood that Pico Neo 3 launched 8 VR games on the platform on the day of its release. Pico will continue to introduce games vigorously, and it is expected to reach more than 200 by the end of 2021. At the same time, the corresponding health fitness and VR social content are gradually being emphasized in the hardware. In the consumer market, in addition to games and entertainment, whether VR can develop new demands outside of games and videos based on its own immersive experience and interactive advantages, such as fitness and virtual social interaction, is also a new aspect worth looking forward to for consumer-level VR products in the future.