Reminiscent of Facebook’s purchase of Oculus, TikTok owner ByteDance is considering Chinese virtual reality gear maker Pico, in what could be a big step for the company.
The owner of Tik Tok ByteDance is considering the purchase of Chinese virtual reality hardware developer Pico. ByteDance was founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo. In addition to running TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, ByteDance also operates Toutiao, a news app. The company has made several acquisitions previously, but all have been related to mobile apps or news companies. He has not yet thrown his hat into the tech ring. This proposed deal recalls Facebook’s purchase of Oculus in 2014 for a combination of $ 400 million in cash and 23.1 million Facebook shares.
Pico, the VR hardware developer, founded in 2015, has a business model of selling VR headsets primarily to other companies around the world, with the only general consumers having access to the products in China. The company’s VR headset, NeoPro, has some impressive stats. It has a 4K display and a refresh rate of 72 / 90hz which, while lower than the Oculus Quest 2, for example, remains a solid rate for commercial purposes. With the addition of eye-tracking, Pico has the potential to take on the world of virtual reality if ByteDance acquires it, no doubt, for a hefty share.
Local media reports using Bloomberg State negotiations between the two sides remain unresolved yet, according to a source. If it were to take place, one would not know the impact it could have on the virtual reality world landscape, which is so crowded. Oculus Quest and HTC Vive are already canopy names. Meanwhile, it is rumored that PlayStation VR will soon launch an updated headset, with Apple likely not to be left behind.
What does this mean for ByteDance and VR
The deal could end up being incredibly lucrative for both Pico and ByteDance. With such a massive company that supports the aspect of virtual reality, Pico would have the necessary funds to drive stronger research and development, making new advances in the VR / AR space. As a Chinese technology giant, ByteDance has the potential to corner this market with this acquisition. It is also possible that the company will choose to keep Pico primarily an enterprise virtual reality hardware developer, a decision that could prove vital in itself.
Questions remain about how the owner of TikTok would behave in virtual reality sphere. Would users need a TikTok / Douyin account to use the headset, similar to how the Oculus Quest 2 requires the user to have a Facebook? How much will it cost and build for games? There will be functionality with Tik Tok? If the agreement is reached, hopefully, time will tell.
Source: Bloomberg
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