By hmimcu In recent years, the door of the AR consumer market has gradually opened, and the latest report released by the internationally renowned consulting agency Strategy Analytics shows that the revenue scale of the consumer AR terminal market has tripled in 2020-2021. On August 23, Nreal consumer AR glasses will be officially unveiled at the first AR conference in China. Although this is the first time Nreal has held a press conference in China, in fact, Nreal has occupied an important position in the global consumer AR glasses track. According to Strategy Analytics, Nreal’s global market share was as high as 75% in 2021, and this figure has risen to 81% in the first half of 2022.
On the eve of the press conference, Xu Chi, founder and CEO of Nreal, shared his thoughts and views on the market outlook of AR glasses, the direction of Nreal’s business development and various possibilities with a small number of media, including the reporter of China Electronics News.
On the eve of the press conference, Xu Chi, founder and CEO of Nreal, shared his thoughts and views on the market outlook of AR glasses, the direction of Nreal’s business development and various possibilities with a small number of media, including the reporter of China Electronics News.
AR glasses enter a period of
rapid expansion In recent years, the VR/AR hardware market has achieved rapid growth. In 2021, the global AR/VR headset has just broken through the 10 million mark, and the International Data Corporation (IDC) Global AR/VR Headset Quarterly Tracking Report shows that the global augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) headset market in 2021 increased by 92.1% year-on-year, with shipments reaching 11.2 million units and VR headset shipments reaching 10.95 million units.
For the phenomenon that “VR headsets are much higher than AR devices”, Xu Chi believes that it is normal for VR hardware shipments to increase first, and he judges that AR hardware is very likely to surpass VR equipment in shipments in the next few years with mature technology accumulation and a wide range of application scenarios. The reason, he said, is that VR is more like a living room game console, which can help users escape from reality; AR is more portable, it is like a glasses, a mobile phone, can help users efficiently use fragmented time. hmi tft
Xu Chi believes that mobile phones undertook the transformation process from the Internet to mobile Internet from 2007 to 2012, and will witness the upgrading of mobile Internet to spatial Internet in 2024, and the future network presentation will be 3D. From the perspective of the law of terminal replacement, Xu Chi believes that the direction of terminal evolution is getting closer and closer to people, which helps to obtain Internet information more conveniently, so computers replace televisions, mobile phones replace computers, and the next generation of Internet terminals is very likely to be glasses, AR glasses may be the last screen that humans need before the brain implants chips.
“By 2030, there will be 1 billion AR glasses on everyone’s head.” Xu Chi judged that AR hardware will be the computing terminal of the spatial Internet, and he boldly predicted that the market ownership of AR glasses will reach 1 billion units in 2030. He explains: “Wouldn’t 1 billion units in a decade be too radical? In fact, since the first iPhone was released in 2007, a total of 8.5 billion smartphones have been sold worldwide in the decade to 2016. Therefore, Xu Chi judged that the AR hardware track, supply chain and ecological construction will produce huge changes in ten years.
Based on the bright future of the AR track, Nreal is also favored by the capital side. In March this year, Nreal completed a $60 million Series C+ round of financing, led by Alibaba, which will be used to increase R&D spending, broaden diversified application scenarios, and accelerate market expansion. Earlier, Nreal’s investors included Kuaishou, NIO Capital, Yunfeng Fund, Sequoia China, Hillhouse, Hongtai Fund, CICC Capital, Gimpo Investment, Shunwei Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, Huachuang Capital, iQiyi and other well-known venture capital institutions.
For the phenomenon that “VR headsets are much higher than AR devices”, Xu Chi believes that it is normal for VR hardware shipments to increase first, and he judges that AR hardware is very likely to surpass VR equipment in shipments in the next few years with mature technology accumulation and a wide range of application scenarios. The reason, he said, is that VR is more like a living room game console, which can help users escape from reality; AR is more portable, it is like a glasses, a mobile phone, can help users efficiently use fragmented time. hmi tft
Xu Chi believes that mobile phones undertook the transformation process from the Internet to mobile Internet from 2007 to 2012, and will witness the upgrading of mobile Internet to spatial Internet in 2024, and the future network presentation will be 3D. From the perspective of the law of terminal replacement, Xu Chi believes that the direction of terminal evolution is getting closer and closer to people, which helps to obtain Internet information more conveniently, so computers replace televisions, mobile phones replace computers, and the next generation of Internet terminals is very likely to be glasses, AR glasses may be the last screen that humans need before the brain implants chips.
“By 2030, there will be 1 billion AR glasses on everyone’s head.” Xu Chi judged that AR hardware will be the computing terminal of the spatial Internet, and he boldly predicted that the market ownership of AR glasses will reach 1 billion units in 2030. He explains: “Wouldn’t 1 billion units in a decade be too radical? In fact, since the first iPhone was released in 2007, a total of 8.5 billion smartphones have been sold worldwide in the decade to 2016. Therefore, Xu Chi judged that the AR hardware track, supply chain and ecological construction will produce huge changes in ten years.
Based on the bright future of the AR track, Nreal is also favored by the capital side. In March this year, Nreal completed a $60 million Series C+ round of financing, led by Alibaba, which will be used to increase R&D spending, broaden diversified application scenarios, and accelerate market expansion. Earlier, Nreal’s investors included Kuaishou, NIO Capital, Yunfeng Fund, Sequoia China, Hillhouse, Hongtai Fund, CICC Capital, Gimpo Investment, Shunwei Capital, CPE Yuanfeng, Huachuang Capital, iQiyi and other well-known venture capital institutions.
Unlike
Chinese companies that have been catching up on the smartphone track, Xu Chi judged that Chinese companies are expected to lead the development of AR hardware. In his view, the abundant resources of the supply chain, the high-end talent reserve, the relevant policy support and the huge potential market are the four major advantages of China leading the AR track.
In the process of starting a business, Xu Chi deeply felt that the integrity of China’s supply chain is the advantage of Chinese companies running in small steps. “At the Optics Conference, I shared the experience of Nreal products that have been iterated 7 times in two years and finally produced the first generation of products, and Apple’s senior consultants are very emotional, because this will never happen in the United States.” Xu Chi believes that the United States does not have a complete supply chain, so American companies want to go through a research and development and manufacturing, the pace is very slow, coupled with the internal process of large enterprises is also very lengthy, will also greatly affect the realization of innovative products.
Nreal’s development process does confirm the characteristics of “small steps and fast running”. Since its inception in 2017, Nreal’s commercialization exploration in the consumer AR field has accelerated, and many of its products have landed in Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe. In november 2021, Nreal and Migu announced a strategic cooperation to jointly promote the development of 5G +AR content ecology; In December 2021, Nreal and NIO released the CAR-sharing version of AR glasses to create a new entertainment experience for smart cockpits; In February 2022, Nreal jointly launched the new “Nreal Air” AR glasses in Japan in conjunction with two major operators, Docomo and KDDI, which were well received and sought after by the market.
Xu Chi said that the fields of 3D perception algorithms and optical technology are Nreal’s two core strengths. In response to a question from a reporter from China Electronics News, Xu Chi said: “It is very likely to become an upstream supplier of optical modules.
In March 2020, Nreal and Wuxi High-tech Zone jointly built Nreal mixed reality headquarters base officially signed a contract, it is understood that the project plans a total investment of more than 2 billion yuan, the use of plant area of about 26,000 square meters. As the industrial base and R&D innovation center of mixed reality (MR) glasses, the main business direction of the project is the production and manufacture of optical modules and complete machines.
Xu Chi said that Nreal on the road to growth, feel the prosperity of the industry and the maturity of products depends on the global excellence in various fields of the work together, Nreal is a very open company, if the future has the opportunity to give back to the AR ecology as a product, Nreal will not let go of this opportunity.
Xu Chi said that Wuxi’s production line will be fully automated, effectively promoting the increase in the output of its optical modules and the decline in costs, if there is demand in the future industry, Nreal will also release the ability of products to more industrial chain partners.
In the process of starting a business, Xu Chi deeply felt that the integrity of China’s supply chain is the advantage of Chinese companies running in small steps. “At the Optics Conference, I shared the experience of Nreal products that have been iterated 7 times in two years and finally produced the first generation of products, and Apple’s senior consultants are very emotional, because this will never happen in the United States.” Xu Chi believes that the United States does not have a complete supply chain, so American companies want to go through a research and development and manufacturing, the pace is very slow, coupled with the internal process of large enterprises is also very lengthy, will also greatly affect the realization of innovative products.
Nreal’s development process does confirm the characteristics of “small steps and fast running”. Since its inception in 2017, Nreal’s commercialization exploration in the consumer AR field has accelerated, and many of its products have landed in Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe. In november 2021, Nreal and Migu announced a strategic cooperation to jointly promote the development of 5G +AR content ecology; In December 2021, Nreal and NIO released the CAR-sharing version of AR glasses to create a new entertainment experience for smart cockpits; In February 2022, Nreal jointly launched the new “Nreal Air” AR glasses in Japan in conjunction with two major operators, Docomo and KDDI, which were well received and sought after by the market.
Xu Chi said that the fields of 3D perception algorithms and optical technology are Nreal’s two core strengths. In response to a question from a reporter from China Electronics News, Xu Chi said: “It is very likely to become an upstream supplier of optical modules.
In March 2020, Nreal and Wuxi High-tech Zone jointly built Nreal mixed reality headquarters base officially signed a contract, it is understood that the project plans a total investment of more than 2 billion yuan, the use of plant area of about 26,000 square meters. As the industrial base and R&D innovation center of mixed reality (MR) glasses, the main business direction of the project is the production and manufacture of optical modules and complete machines.
Xu Chi said that Nreal on the road to growth, feel the prosperity of the industry and the maturity of products depends on the global excellence in various fields of the work together, Nreal is a very open company, if the future has the opportunity to give back to the AR ecology as a product, Nreal will not let go of this opportunity.
Xu Chi said that Wuxi’s production line will be fully automated, effectively promoting the increase in the output of its optical modules and the decline in costs, if there is demand in the future industry, Nreal will also release the ability of products to more industrial chain partners.