People in most parts of the world have yet to get their hands on Apple’s Vision Pro, the company’s first mixed-reality headset that launched exclusively in the U.S. earlier this month. But in the southern Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen, sellers are already offering much cheaper alternatives. One of them is the Vision SE, made by Shenzhen-based headset maker EmdoorVR. CEO Shi Qing said the company was hoping to leverage the interest around Apple’s Vision Pro to survive a slowdown in the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) industry. “We did not want to miss the Apple Vision Pro opportunity, so we rode the wave and made something similar,” he said. From its white straps and curved front screen down to its name, the Vision SE shows remarkable similarities with Apple’s headset. Yet, their functionality and prices are starkly different.
For less than CNY2,000, the Vision SE lets users view videos, web pages and workplace apps in a VR and AR environment through its 5.5-inch LCD, 3664 x 1920 pixel display. But the device, powered by Qualcomm’s entry-level AR and VR processor Snapdragon XR1, lacks the eye tracking and hand-gesture interaction experience offered by the Apple Vision Pro, which has a starting price of USD3,499 and costs twice as much in China’s grey market. While Apple’s device dives into the new concept of spatial computing, Emdoor’s Vision SE focuses more on providing an entertainment experience, according to Shi. EmdoorVR's CEO recognized the two devices’ resemblance, which has earned the Vision SE the nickname “Huaqiangbei Vision Pro” on social media, after the famed consumer electronics market in Shenzhen that is known for selling knock-off gadgets. Shi stressed that the company had filed for relevant patents and undergone auditing to avoid legal risks. The devices from EmdoorVR and Apple arrived after a rocky year for the AR and VR industry, which saw global shipments decline 8.3% to 8.1 million units in 2023, research firm IDC estimated in December. Demand was curtailed by macro-economic pressures on both consumers and businesses, according to the report.
In China, Pico, the world’s second-largest VR brand and a subsidiary of TikTok owner ByteDance, conducted at least two rounds of lay-offs last year, affecting hundreds of employees. The VR arm of video-streaming site iQiyi delayed salary payments and reduced headcount, according to a report by Chinese media outlet Caixin last April. The year 2024 is going to be different, according to IDC. The global AR and VR market is expected to grow more than 46% thanks to the launch of Apple’s Vision Pro, as well as the availability of the Meta Quest 3, released last October. The sector is “at a critical point in its short history,” said Ramon Llamas, IDC Research Director for mobile devices and AR/VR. “Apple’s entry in 2024 will bring much needed attention to a small market, but it will also force other companies to compete in different ways.” Established in 2015, EmdoorVR started as a contract manufacturer of VR devices for Chinese tech firms including iQiyi and ZTE, as well as other industry and government clients, the South China Morning Post reports.
