In 2016, the virtual reality (VR) market gradually emerged. With PC VR headlines in foreign countries as the mainstream, Sony (PlayStation VR) and Oculus (Rift) represented them. From the VR hardware to the contents, the ecosystem was continuously deployed in their own homes. VR is flooding, and most users begin to understand virtual reality from VR mobile phone boxes. VR boxes and all-in-one machines have naturally become mainstream VR products in China.
In 2017, VR hardware technology continued to mature, capital began to review rationality, and the content is still scarce, users from the perspective of VR awareness mainly through search platforms, games, video, exhibitions and experience and other channels, investment, according to Baidu VR According to statistics, in 2016, there were 61 cases of VR investment in China, with an investment amount of approximately 2.52 billion yuan. Industry investment was mainly in angel rounds and A-round financing (accounting for 75%), in which the investment in VR hardware was reduced, compared with VR. In terms of content, the investment market has been strengthened. In 2017, the investment and financing of VR content increased rapidly.
Recently, the analysis agency Digi-Capital has released an investigation report “Augmented/Virtual Reality Report Q1 2017†which mentions the investment situation in the first quarter of 2017, according to the report, from 2016 to the first quarter of 2017. A total of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars of investment, while the amount of mergers and acquisitions in the same period was only 600 million U.S. dollars, the data can be seen that the amount of virtual reality investment exceeds mergers and acquisitions is also a typical early phenomenon in the technology market, and manufacturers are more likely to be able to plan in the future. Ways to invest, not just to consolidate advantages or to control costs.
Q1 VR/AR Investment as of 2017
Q1 VR/AR acquisitions by 2017
In addition, as can be seen from the data, VR / AR in the past year, the total investment value of over 15 US dollars, including the highest ratio of solutions / services and video, followed by games, peripherals, AR HMD, applications (non-game) , Technology, Advertising, VR HMD. In the past year, the total value of VR/AR acquisitions reached 600 million U.S. dollars, among which the technology and technology accounted for the highest, with the rest being solutions/services, advertising, video, and games.
Through data analysis, in order to accelerate the internal development of the company, major companies mainly focus on acquisitions and investments, among which component manufacturers and solution providers have become the hottest investment targets, such as Microsoft’s $150 million acquisition of ODG patents; Apple Technology giants such as Google, Facebook, Intel, and Snapchat all acquired multi-component vendors and solution providers. It is not difficult to see that the virtual reality (VR) market is still at an early stage, and the constant maturity of technologies and solutions is also a necessary path for market development. For start-up companies that master core technologies, especially mobile VR/AR glasses companies, The amount of investment this year may reach new heights.
VR/AR Market Revenue Share Forecast for 2020
From the user's analysis of VR experience, in addition to mobile VR, high-end PC VR head display is very shocking to the user experience, but due to the high price, from the controller to the PC host configuration and software prices allow users to stay away, even though The HTC Vive and Oculus Rift bring hundreds of thousands of users to the market, but according to Digi-Capital, the installed base of the host PC VR in 2020 is only 20 million units, not counting sales and mobile VR. Although Baidu VR cannot predict the orientation of these two major manufacturers in the future, it still deserves our attention.
Digi-Capital's report also predicts that in 2017, although VR video and VR games have enough resources to continue to survive, most companies do not actually generate huge profits. In 2017, these areas will be shuffled. On the contrary, since Facebook launched the AR platform at the F8 Developer Conference, there have recently been many cases of augmented reality investment and financing, especially mobile AR may present a blowout imagination this year.
In addition, VR/AR advertising, peripherals, distribution, social networking, corporate and offline VR are still a blue ocean, and VR is more like the tipping point of the initial stage and eruption at present, because the content has not yet appeared a killer product. In order to promote the outbreak of the market, the risk in the early stage is high, and all major companies also take a wait-and-see attitude. Everyone does not want to miss the opportunity, and they are constantly testing the water. Perhaps the future of virtual reality may not be as good as augmented reality or artificial intelligence, and it may not even exist independently. It is highly likely to merge with AR and AI, but Xiaobian believes that the future of VR is still blue ocean.
[Baidu VR original manuscript, reproduced please indicate the source]