XR products rely heavily on high-quality content. With its powerful spatial computing capabilities and innovative interaction models, Apple Vision Pro is expected to inject vitality into the content ecosystem and open a new stage in the development of the XR industry.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that Bank of China International released a research report stating that XR products are deeply dependent on high-quality content. With its powerful spatial computing capabilities and innovative interaction models, Apple Vision Pro is expected to inject vitality into the content ecosystem and begin a new stage in the development of the XR industry. The proposal focuses on the development of XR technology, innovative applications combining XR and AI, and companies with leading XR technology and mature application layouts in the industry.
Related targets: It is recommended to focus on companies related to the application of XR technology; it is recommended to focus on companies that already have a mature layout in the field of XR applications, digital culture and creativity fields: Silk Road Vision (300556.SZ), Hengxin Oriental (300081.SZ), Fengyuzhu (603466.SH), Zhejiang Internet (600986.SH); Sports: Lisheng Sports (002858.SZ); Marketing field: Tianyu Digital (002354.SZ); Film and television entertainment field: Mango Supermedia (300413.SZ), Chinese Online ( 300364.SZ); Game field: Kaiying Network (002517.SZ), Tom Cat (300456.SZ); Education field: NetDragon (00777); XR related software technology: Ling Yunguang (688400.SH).
Bank of China International's main views are as follows:
XR products rely heavily on high-quality content, and Vision Pro invigorates the content ecosystem
MR technology combines AR and VR to enable a new hybrid world experience by enhancing the interaction between virtual objects and the real world. Currently, the functional value brought by XR devices is limited, and the content ecosystem has become a key factor in product competition. Apple's entry into MR, which has both a software and hardware ecosystem, is expected to attract top content producers to establish a good development ecosystem through its market influence, and at the same time rely on brand influence to achieve a healthy ecosystem of high-quality content supply—platform break—response to consumer demand at lower user education and reach costs.
Computing power supports highly immersive experiences, and performance paves the way for content transformation
A breakthrough in computing power is the primary prerequisite for alleviating the current difficulties such as the lack of content ecology in XR products and the lack of experience as expected. Apple Vision Pro is equipped with two chips, M2 and R1. The M2 provides superior computing power. R1 reduces device latency, and the performance is higher than the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR chip, which is the mainstream VR and AR chip solution in the market, improving computing power to the computer level, making “spatial computing” possible.
Vision Pro builds a new human-computer interaction system, and the development of large AI models will accelerate XR content generation. Through the synergy of high-quality bare-hand interaction, voice recognition, and eye tracking, Apple Vision Pro brings a new interactive experience to the XR field and opens up space for subsequent application development. In March 2024, Apple first announced the MM1 multi-modal large model. MR is expected to continue to combine breakthroughs in the AI field as Apple's key layout direction and push the XR industry into a new stage. Furthermore, as a spatial computing device, Vision Pro is expected to benefit from the development of AI related to 3D content generation.
Vision Pro is expected to break the application scenario limitations of traditional XR headsets
Vision Pro only has 12 games that are truly adapted to the MR model; existing game porting can open up the user market faster, but native games have a higher degree of freedom in design, are more suited to device characteristics, and their development cycle is relatively long. In June 2023, Unity and Apple reached a partnership, and developers will be able to use Unity to create content for Vision Pro; Unity is also developing 3DAI content.
In terms of film and television, Vision Pro introduced AppleImmersiveVideo, a new entertainment format pioneered by Apple, which allows viewers to immerse themselves; in addition, Vision Pro has a wide range of expandable application scenarios, including the transformation of offline cultural tourism activities, XR events, concerts, etc. In terms of emerging applications, through RTC and spatial audio capabilities, Apple is expected to bring more immersive virtual space social entertainment that is different from graphic video.
Risk factors: Overseas technology blockades, industry regulations exceeding expectations, new technology implementation falling short of expectations, macroeconomic factors.