Tang Mu, General Manager of Xiaomi VR: It's not too late for Xiaomi to enter VR, and it's going to lose miserably if the timing is wrong

Recently, Alibaba announced the establishment of a VR laboratory, revealing the group's VR strategy for the first time. Taobao also launched the buy+ program to use VR. Tencent announced the Tencent VR SDK and developer support plan. Xiaomi also established the Discovery Laboratory, the first scientific research project is VR, and two products have been released so far.

Original title: Xiaomi VR General Manager Tang Mu: Playing with a ticket mentality is not reliable. It is not too late for Xiaomi to enter the game.

Virtual reality (VR), which was in full swing two years ago, is gradually entering a "cooling-off period."

Whether it is the gradually cautious attitude of capital giants towards VR investment, or the dilemma of many VR companies falling into bankruptcy, transformation, and layoffs, it all reflects that VR is also facing the test of a "cold winter".

However, the chill did not completely stop the enthusiasm of the company. Recently, Alibaba announced the establishment of a VR laboratory, revealing the group's VR strategy for the first time. Taobao also launched the buy+ program to use VR. Tencent announced the Tencent VR SDK and developer support plan. Xiaomi also established the Discovery Laboratory, the first scientific research project is VR, and two products have been released so far.

On the margins of the China-US Virtual Reality Conference from December 1 to 2, Tang Mu, president of Xiaomi Pictures, Xiaomi Router, and general manager of Xiaomi VR, accepted an exclusive interview with reporters. He frankly said that Xiaomi VR will still be an investment period in the next 3 to 5 years, but it cannot keep losing money.

Tang Mu said that VR is indeed facing a "cold winter" at present, and it will be difficult for tens of millions of hot products urgently needed by the mobile VR industry to appear in 2017. At the same time, Tang Mu expressed concern that inferior VR products currently on the market were overdrawn.

Talking about Xiaomi's timing to do VR: It's not too late to enter.

Reporter: The VR market has been hot for a long time. Xiaomi only entered the VR industry in early 2016. Is this time too late?

Tang Mu: At the beginning of 2016, we observed VR products that had been released, were in progress, but had not yet been released. I think they were first too anxious, second too rough, and third, there was a problem with product definition.

Last year, the VR technology we saw still have many obstacles in the consumer field. I don't think it is too late to enter now. We need to further judge whether this technology has a chance to implement it at the consumer level.

Reporter: At present, what are your views on mobile VR products on the market?

Tang Mu: People are enthusiastic and curious about VR. I think there is a demand for VR. Many people queue up for 100 yuan to experience it. Many companies have already produced products, but the products do not meet user expectations. Many users feel endless disappointment and loss when they buy them. This will not bring good reputation and make VR truly implemented in China. The suitable product is not necessarily the best and most perfect product, but must be a product that meets or even exceeds expectations in the consumer field at the time of release.

Users are originally full of curiosity and expectation. If anything is released and called VR, people will be disappointed when they come into contact with it. This will have an adverse impact on the product brand and VR itself, and inferior products will overdraw the market. In addition, many copycat manufacturers export their products abroad, which is also a very inappropriate phenomenon.

Reporter: How does Xiaomi deploy in the VR field?

Tang Mu: Currently, mobile VR is the main focus, and we are also exploring all-in-one machines, but now the all-in-one machine still feels too cumbersome. My understanding of VR is both a virtual reality product and a wearable product. I think the cost of wearing that people can accept is very limited, and wearable products are about being light and comfortable. Take current VR helmets as an example, most of them are very complex.

Reporter: How much does Xiaomi invest in VR products? Has it become a separate sector, and will it consider independent financing or listing in the future?

Tang Mu: Judging from the number of people, it is only 30 to 50 people. It is basically the cost of the product. It is difficult to say the specific funds, but it is actually a relatively light model. Xiaomi's mobile phone system has also made a lot of changes to adapt to VR, updating a lot of permissions. I think investing people and money is not the biggest investment. What is important is that mobile phone platform providers can really make an overall optimization of VR. Xiaomi VR is still being done internally. I think it is a bit early to go public, and the entire market is still unclear.

Talking about the entry point of the VR industry: The casualty rate of content entrepreneurship is too high

Reporter: What do you think of the "cold winter" of the VR industry?

Tang Mu: In essence, we are currently facing difficulties in terms of content and hardware, and many VR teams have also closed down. If the product itself is better, there will be no VR winter and spring at all.

I think the product is still not doing well at present. It is promising to develop a local technology in this field, and we must focus on slowly expanding the segmented areas. At the same time, there are some outstanding people in content entrepreneurship, but the "casualty rate" is too high. How can you be sure that you are the 1%?

Reporter: What are the reasons why VR is difficult to popularize in China?

Tang Mu: First of all, VR has not formed a name in China that people can understand at once, which affects the education of users. VR is a technical name, not like an intuitive product. At present, the word VR is spreading like a familiar word like PC, and it is very likely that the name will be like this. However, the formation of the VR name is very strange. China belongs to the country suddenly brought in from abroad.

Reporter: In the early stage of VR, investment is very important?

Tang Mu: You will find that some companies have received a lot of large financing, but in the entire industry ecosystem, if they feel that there is a lack of a certain link, they will use funds to blindly supplement it. This is very dangerous. Funding can start the beginning, but it is difficult to last until the end.

Reporter: Many companies are now investing in VR content. What do you think?

Tang Mu: I don't think it's reliable to buy VR content with money at the moment. The first thing I say when negotiating with any content vendor is, you are welcome to come, but I will not spend a penny on content.

Take mobile phones as an example. Xiaomi mobile phones have never given money to iQiyi or Youku. When this hardware platform is powerful enough, maybe iQiyi pre-installed into Xiaomi mobile phones to pay for Xiaomi mobile phones.

We have never done anything where hardware subsidizes content. This is very unreliable. I think Xiaomi has the same view on smart hardware, and the path of hardware entry will continue.

Talking about crises and opportunities in the VR industry: If the timing is wrong, you will lose miserably.

Reporter: Is the VR industry in need of popular products to increase awareness now?

Tang Mu: Yes, you don't have an operating platform. What's the use of making content? I think it will be difficult to produce hot products in 2017, and mobile VR relies very much on mobile phones. The current sales of mobile phones have become an obstacle.

Reporter: What are the biggest problems and challenges facing the VR industry?

Tang Mu: Manufacturers are too anxious to invest huge financial resources and manpower. If the timing is wrong, they may lose a lot. There is a saying that this market may develop, and if I stand in it first, I may get benefits; if I regard this market as a gamble and sit at the table, not only may I win in the future, but I may also lose and lose everything I lose.

I think it is very unreliable to treat the market as a gamble. You may have lost everything before you can see winning. It is not advisable for entrepreneurial teams to make products in this way, but there are still many people who use this mentality to do this kind of thing.

Reporter: What are the differences between domestic and foreign VR markets?

Tang Mu: Actually, the VR ecosystem chain abroad is not mature. Several VR companies that are relatively large abroad are also burning money. Moreover, some models are very heavy and invest too much before they clearly see this business model.

Reporter: What will be the trend in the next 3 to 5 years? What changes will there be in 2017?

Tang Mu: If a product reaches tens of millions of sales, this matter will be reliable. I can't see the situation of other companies at present, but I believe Xiaomi can seize this opportunity.

In addition, the projects we start will not be easily abandoned, and the entire market is still unclear. In the future, we will maintain sufficient investment until we find the real hot product. I believe that the next 3 to 5 years will be an investment period, but we can't keep losing money. We must learn to limit investment.

Editor: Nancy