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When Pico launched itsOculus Quest challengerin China last yr , it did so with nifty optimism . Light ( 295 grams ) and affordable ( $ 420 ) , the virtual reality headset give up by the ByteDance - possess manufacturer was expect to drive adoption in a market inaccessible to Meta .
The betting odds were against Pico . Its sale have been soggy , and this week , Pico , which wasacquiredby the TikTok parent two twelvemonth ago , initiated a fresh round of layoffs .
This calendar week , Pico hold back an inner meeting announcing a major reorganization . A person intimate with the matter told TechCrunch that “ a few hundred ” employees were allow go , allow for Pico with “ under 2,000 ” people .
Even after the layoff , Pico , as it support today , has a significantly bigger head count than the team of 200 - 300 when it was acquired . The shakeup suggest that Pico is regroup to convulse cost and quest after more sustainable growth after a period of aggressive expansion .
In a instruction , a Pico spokesperson said that the unit was reconstitute to focus more on “ ironware and core applied science . ”
“ We frequently valuate our concern take and make alteration to strengthen our organisation and well align our team with party end , ” the representative pronounce .
Frequent assessments are indeed necessitate at a sentence when China ’s post - COVID economical recovery misses anticipation . China ’s VR shipments shrank by 56 % year - over - twelvemonth in the first half of 2023 , according to market enquiry firmCounterpoint .
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The slump “ distinguish the closing of the Taiwanese VR marketplace ’s two - year growth streak , spanning 2020 - 2022 , and reverting to a land of stagnation , ” the news report said .
The decline was due to several factors . For one , Chinese consumersare spending lessamid a weakening thriftiness . To weather the halfhearted economic recovery , Pico has scaled back its marketing investments , leading to a smaller shipment target area , according to Counterpoint ’s analysis .
Another contributing factor is the want of high - quality VR content that ’s demand to drive mass adoption . VR technology is still in its babe stage of exploitation , with hardware awaiting some meaningful advancements . At a clip when businesses are fasten their belt , it only seems ordered for Pico to focus on meliorate its hardware rather than put heavily in content creation .
Further adding to its sales force per unit area is that in China , youth gaming — arguably one of the largest VR consumer categories — is “ heavy baffle , with complicated content vetting outgrowth and legally capped sieve time , ” suggested Gavin Newton - Tanzer , boniface of assorted - reality group discussion AWE Asia . regulative barriers also “ complicated ” Pico ’s U.S. launch , said Newton - Tanzer .
“ Pico has firm fundamentals , but luck and timing cabal against them , so some degree of restructuring was inevitable due to lackluster consumer sales , ” he added .
“ While I firmly believe consumer VR in China will have its breakout mo , it just wo n’t be in 2023 . In this circumstance , Pico ’s pick to abide its meter and focus on hardware make sentiency : they ’ll continue to make progress in the B2B market while keep choice open for another tally at the consumer market in the future . ”
ByteDance ’s Pico debut its Meta Oculus rival , but challenges persist
