Chelsea Mercer, Analyst
Facebook reported fiscal 2Q19 revenues of $16.89 billion, up 28% year-over-year and beating the $16.49 billion consensus estimate. Payments & Other Fees revenue, which includes sales of Oculus Quest and Rift S, were $262 million for the quarter, up 36% year-over-year.
How Will Facebook’s Libra Change the Future of Commerce in VR/AR?
Clifton Dawson Devices & Technology, Insight Articles
On June 18, 2019, Facebook announced a new subsidiary, Calibra, that’s developing a digital wallet to allow people to buy, send and use Libra, which is a new global currency powered by blockchain technology. Facebook says it expects to launch Calibra in 2020 as a standalone app, but also integrate the digital wallet in Messenger and WhatsApp as well. What … Read More
Meet Valve Index: SteamVR’s Latest Flagship Joins Next-Gen Virtual Reality Lineup
J.C. Kuang, Analyst Devices & Technology, Head-Mounted Displays, Insight Articles, Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality Intelligence Service
After official confirmation of the validity of several leaks published this week, Valve has announced its intent to release its new VR HMD, called Valve Index, to the public on June 15. In addition to the device’s name and certain physical features like a manual IPD adjustment switch, which an earlier teaser revealed, other key features including a 90Hz refresh … Read More
Snap Turns to Gaming, Mobile Augmented Reality for Platform Expansion
Alexis Macklin, Research Manager Advertising, Apps & Games, Augmented Reality, Augmented Reality Intelligence Service, Insight Articles, Media & Entertainment
Snap Inc., parent company of Snapchat, announced a new gaming platform that will integrate games into its social platform. Internally dubbed “Project Cognac,” the new platform will open to developers in April. A formal announcement is expected at Snap’s first developer summit on April 4 in Los Angeles. Project Cognac represents Snap’s largest investment in games to date. Snap acquired … Read More
The Amazing Race: How Stakeholders are Readying xR Platforms for Mass Adoption
J.C. Kuang, Analyst Augmented Reality, Augmented Reality Intelligence Service, Head-Mounted Displays, Insight Articles, Software, Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality Intelligence Service
The importance of platforms, defined here as centralized groups of apps, first-party services, operating systems, and hardware, cannot be overstated in evaluating the progress of companies driving the next wave of xR adoption. Many major companies in the VR and AR space have begun 2019 by making important advances in the race to build a complete and compelling platform for … Read More
Table Stakes: Key Features for VR HMDs in 2019
J.C. Kuang, Analyst Devices & Technology, Head-Mounted Displays, Insight Articles, Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality Intelligence Service
Over the last 6 months, announcements made by major VR firms have reaffirmed the significance of 2019 as an important year for mass adoption of VR. Enterprise stakeholders and IT professionals are noticeably more open to the implementation of VR in traditional training and design workflows. Moreover, consumer hardware has continued to improve and is set to see a major … Read More
Iribe’s Rift 2: What Is The Future of PC-Tethered Virtual Reality at Oculus?
J.C. Kuang, Analyst Devices & Technology, Head-Mounted Displays, Insight Articles, Virtual Reality, Virtual Reality Intelligence Service
The departure of Brendan Iribe, former head of PCVR for Oculus, has sent ripples through the enthusiast community, amid increasing worries that PC-tethered virtual reality, including a future “Rift 2” device, is lagging behind on the company’s list of priorities. This has been further exacerbated by unconfirmed comments from sources close to Facebook and Oculus, stating that the move was … Read More