As of the first quarter of 2017, China became the third largest VR market in the world, following the United States and Japan. Recently, an article published by foreign media Tech in Asia indicates that the Chinese market, with nearly 1.4 billion people and government support, is destined to become the first country to popularize VR.
Ten years later, the Chinese scientific and technological community will change greatly. But at present, what kind of environment is China's VR? What happens during this transition period? What can the global market learn from the development and popularization of China's VR/AR market? These are issues that overseas media are concerned about.
Ryan Wang responded to the above questions in a recent interview with Tech in Asia. Ryan Wang is an investor focused on VR/AR, blockchain and future technology. He once went deep into the Chinese market and went to more than 20 cities in China to learn about local VR usage.
The following are some of Ryan Wang's views on the Chinese VR market:
Chinese market has ushered in the first VR boom
In the third quarter of 2016, Shenzhen's manufacturing companies started production of VR cardboard equipment, which means that the Chinese VR industry began to develop. When the Oculus SDK was launched in 2016, manufacturers began to focus on similar products. During that year, VR became the hottest investment industry, and startups were moving toward B2B.
Last year, Chinese investors participated in 36 transactions, totaling 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, mainly for investments in the VR/AR field. Although 90% of China's VR startup companies are closed at the end of 2016. However, the data shows that as more and more participants are involved in the VR industry and promote the growth of new content, the industry is expected to expand by four times in 2017.
Ryan Wang said: "We are studying how to enable China to achieve a fully developed VR ecosystem."
Offline experience shop as the main driving force
There are more than 10,000 VR offline experience stores in China, but most of them are at loss. Without a content distribution system, lack of high-quality software, and no game standards, if such a situation continues, there will be no development at all. Fortunately, all this is just the beginning.
Some top companies are working together to try to establish a special distribution channel to introduce high-quality foreign content into Chinese VR devices. Ryan Wang said: “At present, the biggest challenge facing the industry is not whether we have a large enough installation base. Instead, we have more glutinous rice, and lack real users.â€
HTC Vive users spend an average of five hours per week on VR devices. By the end of 2017, offline experience stores may become the main reason for users to spend 2-3 hours per day in VR. These initial users will begin to build VR society from within, and this phenomenon is most likely to be developed in China first, thus giving hope to the entire industry.
“Although the current data looks a little unsatisfactory, I still think it is a very substantial opportunity,†adds Ryan Wang.
Consumption habits determine the dominant position
Compared with Chinese and American consumers, Chinese consumers are more likely to accept emerging technologies, and US consumers tend to wait until the technology is fully mature before they start using it. “In China, people have always been dissatisfied with the status quo. They want to get something better. As long as something is slightly better than before, they can't wait to try it,†Ryan Wang continued.
In addition, Chinese users are more dependent on mobile devices, and VR is mainly based on mobile devices such as mobile phones. This has made China an invisible advantage. The United States may be the driving force behind the development of VR/AR technology, but when people really use this technology, China is definitely in a leading position.
In addition to games, education will become another major driving force for consumers to use VR. There are more students in China than in other parts of the world, but there are not enough teachers to nurture this generation of young people. From a family perspective, Chinese parents are willing to spend money on their children’s education. On average, 20% of China’s household income will be used for children’s education. In the United States, this figure is less than 5%.
Policy support plays a boost role
In addition, China's relevant departments are also working hard to promote the development of this technology, and to stimulate the improvement of its ecosystem to make it develop faster. VR will become part of China's "global economic innovation", and the new round of science and technology revolution with the Internet as its core is actively developing, and new technologies such as AI and VR will also gain overflying development.
The combination of the virtual economy and the real economy will bring about revolutionary changes in our working methods and lifestyles. This cannot be separated from the promotion of the VR industry by the Chinese authorities. It is precisely because of this boost that the development of this industry in China will be rapidly advanced.
Due to China's inflation and strong currency controls, China may attract some American talents to China in a few years to create a new ecosystem. The United States has leading technology and content, but their market is small, so they cannot commercialize these technologies.
In contrast, Chinese companies have various channels for commercialization and the market is ready, but there is always no high-quality content. This provides a great opportunity for the top talent in the U.S. industry to allow them to provide high-quality content to the Chinese market in an environment where the infrastructure has been improved.
In the short term, the United States will contribute to technology and China will take responsibility for them. In the long run, both countries need to work together to promote the globalization of VR/AR, and its efficiency will depend on how much capital is injected.
At the end of the interview, Ryan Wang gave this advice: “Any investor, entrepreneur, developer or creative technologist who wants to benefit from VR needs to understand the following two points: Which market will grow bigger? Which market will be faster?
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