According to sources quoted by the Wall Street Journal on Friday (10th), a Chinese technology giant has reached a preliminary agreement with Meta to become the exclusive seller of Meta's headwear devices in China. This marks Facebook's return to this important market in China after 14 years in 2009. So, will virtual reality usher in an explosion in this trend?
Meanwhile, according to foreign media reports, after the United States further restricted China's access to advanced semiconductors last month, Nvidia will release three new artificial intelligence chips targeting China. According to Yinshi Finance, insiders at Nvidia stated that the news is true and will be officially launched on the 16th of this month.
It is worth noting that there are also heavyweight messages coming out in the application direction of ChatGPT. Humane, a startup founded by former Apple (AAPL US) designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, has released its first product, the AI Pin, which is a pin worn on a lapel for $699.
Zuckerberg Returns to China?
According to the latest news from the Wall Street Journal today, a Chinese technology giant has reached a preliminary agreement with Meta to become the exclusive seller of Meta's headwear devices in China. This marks Facebook's return to this important market in China after 14 years in 2009. After 14 years, Zuckerberg finally ushered in new opportunities in the Chinese market.
Meta plans to launch a new low-cost virtual reality (VR) headwear device in China, featuring lenses that are cheaper than its latest model, Quest 3. According to sources, the two companies have reached a preliminary agreement that Chinese technology giants will exclusively sell this product from the end of 2024, and this more affordable product will also be sold in other markets.
The source stated that the transaction is temporary and details may change. It is currently unclear whether formal approval from the Chinese government is required to launch Meta devices and provide virtual reality (VR) content on the platform.
Sources pointed out that Meta (META-US) and the aforementioned Chinese company will move towards a win-win situation in this transaction, with Meta gaining a larger share of device sales, while the Chinese company will receive more content and service revenue. Neither Meta nor the Chinese company immediately responded to requests for comment before the deadline.
If the above news is true, it means that the virtual reality (VR) market may rise again. This afternoon, the leading company in this sector, Goethe Holdings, also surged.
On October 19-20, the 2023 World VR Conference was held, with nearly 150 companies including Huawei, iFlytek, BOE, Unity, and others participating. There were 116 signed projects with a signed amount of 45.6 billion yuan. Guohai Securities believes that the changes worth noting at the above conference include: 1) the gradual implementation of AI+XR: with the breakthrough of AI big model technology, the combination of AI and VR/AR has been implemented in some application scenarios. At present, the main focus is on B-end scenarios, such as AI, which can significantly improve the generation efficiency of VR/AR professional content (film and television games, medical images, etc.) and lower the production and application threshold. 2) The transformation of gesture interaction in new hardware products: In the newly released domestic consumer grade VR/AR hardware in 2023, gesture interaction has become a new product trend.
From the perspective of Meta's products, as of October 15th, multiple mainstream models of Meta Quest3 have been sold out on Amazon in the United States and Japan, and subsequent inventory is still in a tight state. According to data.ai data, the number of new users added to the Quest application has remained low for a long time after the peak of "Christmas New Year's Day" at the end of 2022, and the increase in machine penetration rate has relatively slowed down. However, the number of new users brought by the launch of Quest3 is expected to be reflected in the October data, thereby driving the subsequent improvement of MAU and other active indicators.
Apple's Vision Pro has been released and is expected to be officially launched in the first quarter of next year, priced at $3500, occupying the high-end position of MR machines. Meta's Quest Pro is also an MR exploration product priced at $1500. In the next consumer level VR products, the Quest3/2 series products and domestic Pico products are both recognized by mainstream digital consumers at relatively affordable prices (around 3000 RMB), According to Mark Rabin, Vice President of Meta V, Meta will also launch a lightweight version of Quest Lite in the future, with an estimated price of $200, which is expected to further increase user selection and increase overall category penetration.
NVIDIA Confirmation
Good news is also coming from NVIDIA China.
Yesterday afternoon, according to foreign media reports, after the United States further restricted China's access to advanced semiconductors last month, Nvidia will release three new artificial intelligence chips targeting China, aiming to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence technology in the Chinese market while complying with US export controls.
According to chip consulting company SemiAnalysis, Nvidia's three chips are referred to as HGX H20, L20 PCIe, and L2 PCIe. According to insiders, compared to the chips previously sold by Nvidia in China, the overall performance of these chips has decreased. Nevertheless, the new graphics processing unit is expected to remain competitive in the Chinese market.
So, is the above information true? According to a report from Yinshi Finance, insiders at Nvidia stated that the news is true and will be officially launched on the 16th of this month.
SemiAnalysis analysts wrote in a report to clients on the 9th that "Nvidia's new chips perfectly cross the boundaries of peak performance and performance density, enabling them to comply with new US regulations
Breakthrough in ChatGPT application direction
There have been many positive news about consumer electronics recently.
Former Apple designers Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno founded the startup Humane five years ago. On Thursday local time, they released their first product, the AI Pin, which is an AI hardware clip worn on a lapel and priced at $699.
The Humane AI Pin is designed to replace smartphones, allowing users to make phone calls, send text messages, and find messages through voice control. It also has a laser display screen that transforms a person's palm into a mini screen that can display time, date, or nearby situations.
Humane stated that in addition to the upfront cost of the device, customers must also pay T-Mobile a monthly data subscription fee of $24. Unlike smart watches, AI Pin has a separate phone number, which means its PIN code will not be bound to the smart phone.
Humane's announcement in March of $100 million in financing from Microsoft, LG's venture capital division, and Tiger Global has attracted attention. With funding from Open AI CEO Sam Altman and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, the company has raised a total of over $200 million in funds.
On Thursday, Chaudhri and Bongiorno showcased some of the features of AI Pin and discussed technologies supported by Qualcomm's AI chip group. AI Pin consists of two parts: one is a square device, and the other is a battery pack that can be magnetically adsorbed on clothes or other surfaces. The square device weighs approximately 36 grams and the battery pack weighs 20 grams. It is equipped with a Snapdragon processor with a dedicated Qualcomm AI engine, and a built-in lens that can capture 13 megapixel photos. After software updates, it can capture videos.
According to the demonstration, in addition to sending and receiving text, AI Pin can also instantly translate Spanish spoken conversations into English, and vice versa. When AI Pin is recording, a Trust Light at the top will flash, reminding users and others that AI Pin is collecting data.
The most important function of AI Pin is to connect to the AI model through a software called AI Mic. Previous reports stated that it is mainly supported by GPT-4.