The VR and AR industry has been proposed for many years. In 2020, the epidemic increased the demand for homes. The demand for VR products like Oculus has surged. The participation of more users and developers has significantly accelerated the VR industry. As AR optical techniques continues to make breakthroughs, the industry has also welcomed new growth points. Upon terminal equipment, the industry’s overall shipment growth in 2020 appeared to be admirable, and the market will continue to heat up, entering a stage of steady growth.
IDC (Internet Data Center) predicts that from 2020 to 2024, the growth rate will reach about 86%, meanwhile the average annual growth rate of the global VR industry will reach about 54%.
With the fierce competition in VR/AR hardware, giants continue to apply respective strategy. From the content side, the current main applications are concentrated in industrial and corporate scenarios, and Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Apple, etc. have all joined in.
Facebook continues to build VR product chains at the beginning of Oculus series. Microsoft uses Hololens to optimize MR (Mixed Reality) products for business side. Apple has applied for a large number of patents and is about to release new products. Google continues to improve AR products for consumer side. As for VR, Oculus, HTC, Samsung, etc. have experienced multiple product iterations. The VR and AR industry are complementing each other to promote the industry to enter a positive cycle.
5G serves as infrastructure driving VR market
5G focuses on ultra-high-speed, low-latency, massive connections, ubiquitous networks, and low power consumption, which can save energy and reduce costs while increasing system capacity and large-scale device connection capabilities. With the advent of the 5G era, VR/AR already has the conditions for “partial immersion”.
According to “2021 White Paper on VR and AR applications”, the development of the VR industry is divided into five stages, of which the earliest stage is the non-immersion stage. And in 2015, marked by the first generation of VR products, it is the primary immersion. The products’ rendering capabilities and user experience are average, and the immersion is poor, difficult to differentiate the experience from other devices.
While from 2019 to 2021, in the partial immersion stage, ultra-high-definition and cloud rendering have gradually entered the commercial market, with 5G and electronic technology gradually promoted. The performance of new terminals and user immersion has been better, reaching the level of “partial rendering”.
In the future, there will be more application scenarios on the consumer-side and business-side, driving the VR and AR industry chain to usher in explosive growth. IDC data shows that the compound growth rate of the industry will exceed 80% in the next three to five years, and the interoperability between different terminals will increase. Furthermore, it is estimated that in the overall market, the B-side costs less than the C-side, but more future growth will come from the B-side, and AR with related content applications will become the primary growth points.
It is estimated that from 2020 to 2024, the average annual growth rate of the global VR industry is about 45%, and that of AR is about 66%, with 54% total growth of the two. In addition, in 2024 VR and AR terminal shipments will reach 35 million, among which AR devices accounting for 55%.
In 2023, AR are expected to surpass VR in terminal shipments. With the shipment and sale of well-known VR/AR terminals such as Facebook’s Quest2 and Microsoft’s Hololens2, and promotion of developed telecom operators’ virtual reality terminals, C-side and B-side will be integrated significantly in 2021.
AR is still applied in mobile phones and computer applications, but the most valuable application scenarios of it include mobility scenarios, such as AR navigation. 5G with high bandwidth and low latency is an important key to realizing the assumption.
Nowadays, operators are actively enlarging the scale of 5G usage, combined with AR and cloud technology. The 5G + cloud + AR mode can transfer AR computing from the end side to a more powerful cloud side, accelerating the development of the industry. In the next 5 years, the AR industry will face challenge of B-end market. In fact, in the future, AR must be a tightly integrated form of end-side cloud because global map data and global user information are naturally suitable for deployment by cloud.
The mainstream AR industry chain is now divided into upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream is mainly for components including chips, sensors, optical components, display screens and other parts. And the midstream is for various devices such as head-mounted displays, glasses, mobile phones, and vehicle terminals. While the downstream is platforms providing content such as games and movies.
There are a large number of manufacturers taking the lead in the VR and AR field. For example, WiMi Hologram (WIMI) has taken the lead in the market in the continuous growth of VR and AR.
WIMI was established in 2015 under the stock code: WiMi. Holographic cloud services, automotive AR holographic HUD (Head Up Display), 3D holographic pulse LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), head-mounted light field holographic equipment, holographic semiconductor, holographic cloud software and holographic car navigation are the main field it concerns.
From AR technology of holographic car navigation, 3D holographic pulse LiDAR technology, holographic vision semiconductor technology, holographic software development to holographic AR advertising technology, it is an almighty corporation. Besides, holographic AR entertainment technology, holographic ARSDK payment, interactive holographic communication and other holographic AR technologies are its main business. To sum up, WIMI is a holographic cloud integrated technology solution provider.
WIMI’s AR will play a pivotal role in business-side applications
The country continues to construct 5G infrastructure. After some new products reach the demand level, they will assist the VR and AR products’ content display. With the user experience optimizing, future purchases will be appreciable.
WIMI, as the world’s leading technology and innovation enterprise, has done research in the fields of AI, VR, AR, 5G, and cloud computing.
As one of the first participants in the holographic AR field, WIMI strives to push the holographic AR technology to real world step by step. It has made major breakthroughs and leaps and bounds in holographic applications such as advertising, entertainment, education, and 5G communications. Upon actual use, WIMI has achieved in-depth R&D and market applications in all aspects of holographic 3D computer vision collection, AI synthesis, transmission, presentation, and application.
Whether in the upstream composed of components, module and assembly foundry, or complete machine of the downstream, the industry chain is relatively mature. This may be the biggest reliance for local manufacturers to seize AR opportunities. WIMI is a representative manufacturer in this regard.
In 2020, WIMI’s smart hardware revenue, including AR/AI products and smart wearable devices, will beef up by 140.0% to a total of 766 million. The annual revenue has increased by 446.8 million, which has become the company’s new growth point.
In practical applications, computing not only grabs video data of users, for instance, with video analysis technology to help changes to short video and program production. Meanwhile, besides improving short video and Internet live broadcast with AR special effects technology, it also supports B-end industry to meet the needs of applications of high-precision, low-latency, high-performance, and fast iteration.
In the field of warehouse management, AR headsets are used to improve the accuracy, productivity and efficiency of warehouse picking.
In the field of education, a variety of new education and teaching concepts such as AR, 3D, holography and virtuality are incorporated, and a new classroom teaching environment based on the Internet of Things and big data integration holography is used to improve the overall teaching solution.
In the tourism market, AR tourism of WIMI is also a new form of smart tourism technology. Combining holographic AR technology to create a one-stop travel service with virtual images, providing a convenient panoramic experience.
As the representative of the tech industry, WIMI has formed a complete and mature industrial chain after years of accumulation and market cultivation. Regarding the breakthrough and development of the AR industry, WIMI has always paid great attention to industry and is committed to industrial investment in holographic AR to help the industry and enterprises develop rapidly. It has invested in more than dozens of high-potential upstream and downstream enterprises.
The specific field involved include: design of holographic AR interactive components, development of holographic AR optical component, development of holographic AR image, development of holographic AR hardware and software, holographic AR application expansion, and holographic AR platform construction and other related industry enterprises.
For the B-end market, the current most prominent demand is in industry of healthcare, education, manufacturing, and retail. It is undeniable that the demand for VR in many B-end industries is relatively large, but AR technology will develop faster than VR during this period. In general, the current and next five years will be the golden period of AR development on the B side, or it may hit the market first.
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