TikTok operator ByteDance has discontinued development of the VR headset 'Pico 5', as sales of 'Pico 4' are sluggish in the VR market
Pico, a Chinese VR device manufacturer founded in 2015 and acquired by ByteDance, the operator of TikTok, in 2021, has reportedly postponed development of the next-generation VR device ``Pico 5''. The Information, an IT news site, explains that ``Sales of Pico 4 were significantly lower than ByteDance's expectations.''
ByteDance Axes Next VR Headset, in Pullback From Meta Battle — The Information
Pico 5 Has Reportedly Been Canceled
https://www.uploadvr.com/pico-5-canceled/
Pico 4 is a VR device released on October 7, 2022. The stand is equipped with a resolution of 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye, a refresh rate of up to 90Hz, a 22.56-inch Fast-LCD screen and Qualcomm XR2, and has 128GB or 256GB of built-in storage so you can enjoy VR content without a PC. The feature is that it is an alone type VR headset. The price is also 49,000 yen including tax for 128GB and 59,400 yen including tax for 256GB, so Pico 4 has the same performance and price as Meta Quest 2 released by Meta.
Amazon.co.jp: PICO 4 - 256GB Completely Wireless All-in-One VR Headset (Pico 4 VR Goggles PC Compatible): Game
However, Pico 4 could not break the VR device market share. The usage rate of VR devices in November 2023 of the 'Steam Hardware & Software Survey' published monthly by Valve, which operates the game sales platform Steam, is as follows. Oculus Quest 2 (Meta Quest 2) is at the top with 40.45%, followed by Valve Index HMD, Oculu Rift S, HTC Vive, Meta Quest 3, and Pico 4 remains at only 2.21%.
In response to Pico 4's poor management, ByteDance carried out personnel reductions in Pico, its VR business division, in November 2023, with approximately 400 people being fired and approximately 600 being transferred to other departments. , Pico's employee count has decreased from 1,800 to 800.
According to The Information, many of the employees who were fired or transferred due to this personnel reduction were members of Pico's VR content team. As a result, Pico canceled the development of a competing product for the popular VR rhythm game ``Beat Saber'' and handed over Ubisoft's Just Dance VR, which was scheduled to be Pico's first exclusive title, to another company.
In addition, ``Project Swan'', a development project for Pico 5 equipped with Qualcomm XR2 Gen 2, which is a further evolution from Pico 4, has also been cancelled. According to The Information, Pico plans to release an 'updated version of Pico 4', but it is not clear which models will actually be updated and how.
When VR-related news site UploadVR asked ByteDance for comment, ByteDance said, ``We will continue to operate normally and provide first-class service to our users,'' but did not provide any specifics on where Pico 5 will go. He declined to answer specific questions.
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in Hardware, Posted by log1i_yk