With the continued boost of the meta-universe concept, the AR industry is also about to usher in a small inflection point in its development phase. As a next-generation computing platform, AR-related fields have become the focus of the tech giants. On the international front, Microsoft signed a $480 million contract (100,000 AR glasses) with the U.S. Army and launched the app RemoteAssist, while Apple has been acquiring AR/VR-related companies and announcing that it will be launching a consumer-grade headset. The gap between China's AR-related companies and international AR technology companies is not that big, and some of them have even taken the lead in certain technologies.
Currently, AR-related listed companies in the domestic market are still in the exploratory research and development stage of the AR business, and have not made large-scale investment, while some startups have already taken the lead in technological inventions. The current AR technology and end products are mostly used in industry and commerce. With the advancement of technology, more and more companies are focusing on the future, increasing their investment in consumer-grade AR glasses and component technology, and making breakthroughs. Therefore, we have selected 50 representative companies in the AR industry chain and will analyze their core competitiveness and future trends from the perspective of the whole industry chain, details of which will be reflected in the full industry analysis report.
AR TerminalNreal
Nreal was founded by Xu Chi in 2017, and first launched consumer-oriented AR glasses NrealLight in early 2019, and released NrealAir in February 2022, which has been awarded the hardware-grade low-blue-light and no-frequency by Germany's T_V Rheinland Group. Nreal has established partnerships with more than 10 leading global operators.
In March 2022, Nreal completed $60 million in Series C+ financing, led by Alibaba. in September 2021, Nreal had received over $100 million in Series C financing, led by Azure Capital, Yunfeng Fund, and Hongtai Fund***.
Rokid
Rokid was founded in 2014 by Zhu Mingming, the former founder of Mammoth Technology, and was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise in 2018.Rokid is dedicated to the research and development of software and hardware products such as AR glasses, and the ecological construction of YodaOS operating system as a carrier.In September 2021. Rokid released the consumer-grade AR smart glasses RokidAir.
In March 2022, Rokid obtained 700 million yuan of Series C financing, this round of financing is mainly used for technology research and development, marketing and ecological construction.Rokid has previously received investment from a number of top institutions, including Temasek, IDG Capital, Credit Suisse, Haitong Securities, and Yuanyuan_Capital.
Leion Vision
Leion Vision was founded in 2014 by Fei Wu, and is committed to providing enterprise customers with AR+AI industry solutions. 2017 launched a new generation of AR glasses, independently developed a neural network inference framework based on end-to-end computing. 2020 end of the year launched AR glasses LeionPro to realize the three-dimensional interaction methods such as voice, gesture and even head movement.
November 2021, Leion Vision completed 100 million RMB C1 round of strategic financing, co-invested by Yizhuang Science and Technology, UMC Fund, and Anxin Securities, with ScalePartners acting as the exclusive capital advisor.
ShadowEye Technology
ShadowEye Technology was founded by Lv Yifei in 2020, and its main business is research and development in the field of smart glasses, equipment and solution design. xView, the first all-in-one thin and lightweight AR glasses was released in July 2020, and INMOX, the first 5GAR glasses was released in May 2022, and the consumer-grade AR smart glasses INMOX was released in July. In May 2022, ShadowEye completed nearly $10 million in Series A financing, which was exclusively invested by Ziwen Group, with Moumou Capital acting as the exclusive financial advisor. Previously, ShadowEye had received cumulative investments of more than RMB 100 million from Matrix Partners, Eagle Fund, Sanqi Entertainment and other organizations.
Huawei
Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1987, and has become a leading global provider of ICT (information and communications) infrastructure and smart terminals.In April 2016, Huawei released its first VR glasses, the HUAWEIVR; in 2017, it released the VR2 headset; and in 2019, it launched a shorter-focus version of the VR headset VRGlass; in November 2021 VRGlass was upgraded to a 6DoF version.
Since February 2022, Huawei has published more than six VR/AR-related patents covering VR headsets, AR glasses, VR application design methods and systems, and storage media.
April 2022Huawei's foldable AR glasses patents were granted.
OPPO
OPPO was founded in 2004 by Chen Mingyong, and is a well-known electronic device and smart terminal manufacturing company in China. in March 2022 OPPO officially put on sale its AR glasses, OPPOAirGlass. in April 2022, OPPO disclosed an "Wearable electronic device" patent, the patent abstract shows that the device includes contact lenses, display device.
OPPO in addition to the layout of AR patented technology, but also actively involved in investing in the upper reaches of the industry startups. in February 2022, OPPO participated in the A round of financing ChenZhou Technology. In addition, OPPO also participated in the investment of fusion vision sensing chip company Rexchip.
vivo
Vivo was founded in 2011 by Wei Shen, and mainly produces smartphones and other consumer electronics products. in 2016, vivio released its first VR glasses with a built-in sensor with a sampling rate of up to 1,000hz, which provides accurate positional feedback and motion detection, and through an independent data transmission channel. It further improves the response real-time, equipped with a mechanism to synchronize both eyes to brush the screen.
In 2019, Vivo released its first AR glasses, linking 5G to enter the AR market. The IPRdaily list, a comprehensive intellectual property information service provider, shows that from January 2020 to December 2021, Vivo has published 1,114 patent applications in the field of VR/AR.
Shadowtronics
Shadowtronics was founded in August 2014 by Sun Li, specializing in the overall software and hardware development of smart glasses. Shadowtron established the Quantum Machine Learning Laboratory in 2016, which is mainly engaged in the research of artificial intelligence technology, and established the Optical Chip Joint Research Center with the School of Microelectronics of Fudan University in 2020, *** with the development of domestic optical chip EDA software.
Currently, we have launched 6DoFMR glasses Hongbao, ACTIONOneProMR smart glasses, and JIMO. in April 2017, Shadow Creation completed nearly 100 million yuan of A round of financing, led by Brilliance Venture Capital. in 2019, we received tens of millions of yuan of B round investment from Huaying Capital.
Chuanglong Intelligent New
Chuanglong Intelligent New, founded in 2015, is a Sino-foreign joint venture technology company engaged in the research and development of high-end technological software and hardware.Since 2015, Chuanglong has launched two models of monocular smart glasses, MADGazeAres and MADGazeX5, and the first bifocal smart August 2021 glasses MADGazeVader.
MADGaze owns AR ecosystem: APP mall_MADStore, fully automated ARAPP generation platform_ARCloud and developer platform_DeveloperConsole. in January 2020, Chuanglong received 130 million yuan of A round of financing, the investors are DNS and Black30Venture.
Light Grain Technology
Light Grain Technology was founded in 2017 by Zhang Zhuopeng, focusing on consumer-grade AR products, with core technologies such as optical displays, optical waveguides, optical materials, and light-field engines.
September 2021, released the AR holographic smart swimming goggles Holoswim
In January 2022, LightinMe, a binocular full-color diffractive optical waveguide AR smart glasses, and HandPlus, a matching interactive ring, were released.
At the end of 2021, LightinMe announced the completion of over 100 million yuan of A+ round of financing, which was accomplished by two stages, namely, A+1 and A+2. The A+2 stage was led by Fenghe Capital, and was followed by Songyang Industrial Fund.
0glass
Shenzhen Augmented Reality Technology Co., Ltd (0glasses) is an artificial intelligence company that focuses on the research and development of industrial AR smart glasses hardware and XR service engine and applies them to the fields of industry, culture and tourism, exhibition and display, marketing, education, and smart city, etc. 0glasses owns independent Intellectual property rights of consumer-grade and enterprise-grade MR smart glasses, image accurate recognition, augmented reality and other advanced technologies. And through the deep integration with smart devices, Internet of Things and cloud computing, it creates platform augmented reality products and services combining hardware and software.
Optical ModuleRhinoceros Shimmering
Rhinoceros Shimmering was established at the end of 2014, focusing on the research and development, mass production, and supply of a full set of solutions for AR optical waveguide technology, with the main focus on the core device optical engine, and taking the lead in realizing the low-cost mass production of optical waveguide AR lenses in the world.
In March 2022, Aura Shimmering announced the completion of a 100 million yuan Series B financing, the capitalists include Guotou Meiya Fund, Fuzikang, Mediacorp, Beijing Tianhe Venture Capital and Shenzhen Wudao Investment.
Nedjia
Nedjia was founded in 2015, mainly engaged in the design, research and development, production and technical support of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) smart glasses optical modules, currently has two core optical technology underlying platforms of free-form surfaces (geometrical optics) and micro-nano optics (diffractive optics).
In the second half of 2021, Nedjia started the expansion and remodeling project of Degas Smart. The production capacity of free-form optical lenses was increased from 1.4 million lenses/year to 2.6 million lenses/year. 2022 May completed the B+ round of financing with joint participation of industrial capital and industry capital.
GuDong Technology Co.
GuDong Technology was founded in 2017, and is y engaged in AI+AR digital twin and digital interaction, with self-developed AR optical module, AR smart wear and intelligent AI algorithmic platform. launched the independently-designed Array Optical Waveguide Module M2031 in July 2021, and realized the mass production.
December 2020, Gudong Technology announced another tens of millions of dollars of strategic financing, led by Guangzhou City Investment Kaider Capital, followed by a number of institutions.
Long_Photonics
Long_Photonics was founded in 2014, and is committed to becoming a leading supplier of optical modules for AR near-eye display. As the first mainland Chinese company to join the LaSAR Alliance, Lon_Photonics released diffractive waveguide modules and prototype glasses based on LBS technology in 2022.
In December 2021, Long_Opto announced the completion of over 100 million RMB in Series C financing, led by Huaqiang Capital and followed by Longmax Venture Capital, Haojun Capital, and GuiQuan Changqing.
Sanji Optoelectronics
Sanji Optoelectronics was founded in 2016, focusing on the research, development and manufacturing of holographic diffractive optical waveguide, has successfully developed monochrome one-dimensional waveguide, two-dimensional pupil-dilating holographic waveguide, full-color holographic waveguide, large-area ARHUD holographic diffractive optical waveguide.
2022 Augmented Reality China ARC released 2021 China AR Annual Honor Roll "Annual Outstanding AR Device Module" Top 10 List, and Triple Pole Optoelectronics was on the list with its 40° body holographic diffractive optical waveguide device based on 1.52 low refractive index ordinary glass substrate.
Hangzhou Calendar Information Technology Co.
Calendar Technology was founded in 2018, focusing on the research and development and sales of augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, micro-optical projection modules based on optical waveguide, and human-computer interaction based on artificial intelligence and other technologies.
Has put into mass production AR optical modules ZX-20 and ZX-R18, respectively, based on array optical waveguide and free-form surface technology independent research and development, in the brightness, power consumption, weight, volume and other technical areas of outstanding performance.
HuiNiu Technology
HuiNiu Technology was founded in early 2017 by 3 PhDs in optics, focusing on the VRCOG (glass-based) which can achieve a perfect fit of the full grayscale Gamma curve in the AM-driven mode.
TCL
TCL has been laying out its core AR technology since 2018, 2021 launching XR glasses TCLNXTWEARG.2022 At the International Consumer Electronics Show, TCL unveiled two smart eyewear products: consumer-grade XR glasses TCLNXTWEARAIR and the TCLLEINIAOAR, the first binocular full-color MicroLED holographic optical waveguide AR glasses.
April 2022, TCL's patent application for "a VR optical system" was published. The abstract shows that said VR optical system includes an optical path folding module and a first light-emitting assembly and a second light-emitting assembly disposed on a peripheral side of the optical path folding module.
Konka
Konka Group (000016.SZ) has built a MicroLED full-process research and development production line, and its self-developed hybrid mass transfer technology has gained significant improvements in transfer efficiency and yield, and has successfully transferred a large number of wearable displays; its MicroLED chips and MiniLED chips have been completed. The MicroLED chips and MiniLED chips developed by the company have completed small and medium volume trial production.
Liade
Liade Optoelectronics Group (300296.SH), with its performance and achievements in the field of scientific and technological innovation, has been awarded a number of honors, such as: National Technological Innovation Demonstration Enterprises, China's Top 100 Electronic Information Enterprises (Beijing's Top 10) and so on.
In 2020, Liade and Epistar photovoltaic joint venture set up crystal microelectronics, in Wuxi to build the world's first MicroLED mass production base, the current order is full. At the beginning of this year, Lijiang microelectronics national energy group production and operation cooperative scheduling information system project (also known as the cornerstone project) officially put into use.
Sanan Optoelectronics
Domestic LED industry chip epitaxial wafer leader, vigorously invested in MiniLED&MicroLED. 2019 the company intends to plan an investment of 12 billion yuan in Hubei Gedian to build MiniLED&MicroLED industrial park, according to the company 2020 According to the company's 2020 announcement, the Hubei industrial park completed the infrastructure, equipment is gradually entering the field, is expected to gradually release production capacity. The company and Samsung continue to maintain in-depth cooperation, and cooperation with Huaxing to establish MicroLED laboratory.
ChipZhiGuang Zhanrui
ZhiGuang Zhanrui (Shanghai) Technology Co. It is also one of the few companies in the world that comprehensively masters full-scenario communication technologies such as 2G/3G/4G/5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, TV FM, satellite communications, etc., and possesses scarce large-scale chip integration and socket capabilities.
At present, UV Spreadtrum T770 chip realizes application in INMOX of Shadow Eye Technology. But compared with XR2 in the process process, video and display capabilities,
Graphics rendering, artificial intelligence and other aspects of the gap.
Smartech Microelectronics
Smartech Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (SMARTech, 688521.SH) is a company that relies on its proprietary semiconductor IPs to provide its customers with platform-based, all-encompassing, one-stop chip customization services and semiconductor IP licensing services.
The company is currently cooperating with an Internet company to customize an AR chip containing core IP from VeriSilicon.
Armor Technology
Armor Technology (China) Co., Ltd ("Armor Technology") is an independently-operated, Chinese-controlled joint venture and China's largest chip IP design and service provider. With more than 300 authorized customers in China and cumulative chip shipments exceeding 25 billion chips, AmoTech has driven the downstream technology industry ecosystem with an annual output value of more than one trillion RMB.
Amou Technology is working with Rokid to develop a highly integrated, small-package, high-performance heterogeneous design solution for AR, according to the company.
PlatformRealMax
RealMax is a global leader in AR augmented reality technology, founded in 2003, headquartered in Shanghai, China, Chinese name for the Tap Yihai (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co. In 2015, the company has acquired four leading international technology companies. In 2015, the company has acquired four international leading technology companies, focusing on AR software algorithm research and development, AR hardware research and development, AR application platform research and development, and AR content development.
RealMaxStudio is a fully web-based AR development platform that combines high-profile development tools like Unity.
Seeing Technology
Seeing Technology was founded in 2016, focusing on AR smart glasses and the face recognition, image processing, computer vision and human-computer interaction technology research. Sydney see lines map EoniMap national market share of 70% +, will cover 300 + cities, 100,000 + landmarks. Its XR platform provides one-stop intelligent solutions for AR developers and operators.
In August 2018, it was announced that it had completed 120 million yuan of A1/A2 rounds of financing consecutively, co-invested by Lenovo Star, Jinko Junchuang, Valley Silver Fund, Baidu Founding Seven Musketeers Lei Ming, ex-executives from Xiaomi, executives from Amazon.com, and industry funds.
Vision+AR
Vision+AR was founded in 2012 and currently has two major businesses. One is the AR open platform, which consists of EasyAR development tool platform and Vision+AR content platform, and the other is AR solutions for various industries, including 3D rendering engine based on its own AR content format, script engine, cloud recognition and other components.EasyAR is an AR cloud service provider, which has launched an open platform and enterprise operation system that integrates the ARSDK, AR content creation tool, AR cloud recognition service and AR operation system as a whole. system as an open platform and enterprise-level solution.
In August 2017, Vision+AR received nearly 100 million yuan of A+ round of financing, led by the Motor Home.
EZXR
EZXR was incubated in the NetEase Artificial Intelligence Division, which was built in 2011 in the NetEase Hangzhou Research Institute, focusing on the development of AR and AI underlying technology, providing full-stack AI technology application and exploration for the NetEase Group, reaching nearly 3.3 billion registered users.
In 2015, the team entered the field of Augmented Reality (AR), and a number of research results have been published in ISMAR and IPIN and other top international academic conferences, harvesting ISMAR2018BestPoster Award.
MiQi Technology
MiQi Technology is an AI platform company in the AR vertical, focusing on two key segments of artificial intelligence and augmented reality (AR) in the digital economy, and making AR algorithmic engine and 3D rendering engine for the two ecosystems of applets and web.
KIVICUBE, the first WebXR online production platform in China, helps users create interactive and rich AR business scenes through visual editing with zero foundation and publish them to multiple platforms such as small programs, public numbers and microblogs with one click.
Qimen AR
Qimen AR is an AR interactive marketing SAAS service platform independently researched and developed by Agent Ant based on years of AR marketing service experience, which can be configured with one key, take effect instantly, is highly efficient and convenient, and supports multiple platforms and ecosystems, and is equipped with a perfect backend editing system such as content management, user management, data management, etc. It can realize online and offline traffic and realize the interactive marketing of AR. It has a perfect background editing system with content management, user management, data management, etc., and realizes the interoperability of online and offline traffic, so as to create a closed loop of intelligent marketing.
Jingdong Tiangong AR
Early in 2016, Jingdong formally set up the AR/VR team, and after a few years of development, the AR/VR team has been upgraded to the AR/VR Technology Department, which is subordinate to the Jingdong Retail-Technology and Data Center. Jingdong Tiangong AR open platform, aims to create the most influential platform for domestic ARVR in the consumer field, providing one-stop solutions for AR technology, products and services.
The platform relies on Jingdong's deep accumulation of underlying technology, powerful content ecosystem, and rich application scenarios in the consumer field to platformize AR content to reach a wide range of users, and to promote the use of AR industry in various consumer scenarios.
Brightwind
Brightwind, founded in November 2012, independently researches and develops AR terminals and AR cloud, and has built HiARSpace, an AR platform that combines end-to-end and cloud with AR cloud as a digital hub, and HiLeia, the company's AR collaboration platform, has an excellent performance in both SaaS applications and PaaS services of the platform's capabilities. It has excellent performance in both SaaS applications and platform-capable PaaS services.
In September 2021, Brightwind announced the completion of 270 million yuan C+ round of financing. This round of financing was led by CPE Yuanfeng, followed by Jinkai Capital, Yuanhui Capital, Daguan Capital, Qingzhong Ginkgo, Puchao Capital, etc. The company's cumulative financing has been close to 800 million yuan.
Haikang Nuctech
Haikang Nuctech (002415.SH) was founded in 2001, in the field of security, intelligent Internet of things for more than 20 years, 2020 released AR map application system "digital intelligence 'live map' super-convergence command platform ", to high-altitude live video as a map, superimposed resources and data information to promote augmented reality applications.
Hikvision's AR live application platform is based on high-point video, augmented reality technology (AR) as the core, live map engine as the pillar, combined with the front-end IoT sensing equipment and business system data, will be within the scope of the high-point video of the things, things and other details of the information in the form of a point, line, surface label superimposed on the real-time video linkage, to provide the user to grasp the macro-situation, to grasp the details of the real-time Three-dimensional management of the new model.
ConclusionA new era means new opportunities, and with the advent of the AR industry's small outbreak point, the competition within the industry is gradually fierce. Enterprises can only become the best in the new era by mastering the core technologies in the industry and the industry chain, and by possessing excellent strength. Successful enterprises need to make accurate judgment on the core factors of the macro industry chain and the future trend of the industry. Therefore, EqualOcean will use its professional knowledge and ability to research and analyze the whole industry chain of China's AR industry, helping Chinese enterprises to develop rapidly and catch up with the international pace.