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SHANGHAI – Nreal, a Chinese company making glasses for so-called augmented reality experiences, plans to go public within five years, its CEO told CNBC.
“We think this is really a major tech market and we’re really looking forward to what’s going to happen in the next 10 to 15 years. Very exciting – I think it’s more like ’06, ’07 of the smartphone industry, “Chi Xu, Nreal CEO said.
“We see a lot of good opportunities and certainly we think the size of the market is going to be huge. And we have this opportunity and we want to see it through to the end.”
He said an initial public offering could take place in “less than 5 years”.
The company’s flagship product is a pair of lightweight glasses called Nreal Light, which has been launched in a handful of markets, including South Korea and Japan. Nreal says its glasses allow users to experience “mixed reality” where digital images are superimposed on the real world.
The Nreal Light connects to a smartphone. One of the immediate uses is freeing people from being tethered to their tiny smartphone screens.
“Whatever you display on the cell phone screen in front of you, you put it in front of your face, in a giant screen, and it can be 3D, it can be ultra high definition,” Xu said.
A participant tries on a pair of Nreal mixed reality glasses at the MWC Shanghai Expo in Shanghai, China on Tuesday February 23, 2021.
Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Nreal’s ambitions pit him against tech giants who see a bright future in augmented reality. Apple CEO Tim Cook has called AR the “next big thing” and the iPhone giant is reportedly working on headphones. Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies are all investing in AR.
But the current helmets on the market are expensive and often bulky. Nreal hopes its portable nature will appeal to consumers. The price varies by market depending on how it is distributed. For example, in Japan the helmet costs around $ 700. But in South Korea, the device can be purchased through a carrier’s plan that subsidizes the headset at around $ 300.
Business model
Nreal has a platform for developers to build apps for the headset operating system called Nebula.
“It’s very similar to what Apple has done for smartphones,” said Xu. “We provide a platform where people use it for different kinds of experiences and developers – they can deploy, they can develop different content in the field.”
Apple not only makes money from the sale of its iPhones and other hardware, but it also earns commission income from its App Store.
Nreal has notable backers. Kuaishou, the short video platform in China and iQiyi, a video streaming service, are among the company’s investors. Xu said Nreal will work with both Kuaishou and iQiyi.
“As we mentioned, not only are we going to provide the material. We want to bundle different services together with the glasses. So take video for example, whether it’s a long video or a short video. We believe that glasses are a much better terminal to experience video, ”said the CEO.
“That’s why we’re going to be working with these giants, really working on the new interface.”
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