On May 4th, a few days ago, foreign VR media RoadtoVR released a survey report on the virtual reality (VR) helmet market in China. According to the report, the retail sales of VR mobile phone boxes reached 1,000 units per day, and the number of distribution channels reached 10,000 units per day.

　　In the past three years, the rise of virtual reality in public discussion can not be ignored. During this period, the mainstream discussions in the United States focused on several major VR manufacturers such as Oculus, Valve/HTC, Sony, Samsung and Google. At the same time, however, the VR market in China outside the ocean can never be ignored. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, Huaqiang Market in Shenzhen, China is the demand and supply place of vr-platform and software. They are generally high-end office buildings with factories in Dongguan and offices in Nanshan.

　　If you believe in the bright future of VR, you must also believe in people’s ability to access mobile VR. Because smart phone is the only device whose scale, computing power and price are conducive to the promotion of mobile VR. The Shenzhen model is also because of this. Unlike Rift and Vive, they are very expensive. In China electronic market, thanks to the low cost and threshold, mobile VR can be described as a hundred flowers blossom.

　　The survey divides the VR helmet market in China into three categories — — Mobile VR, VR integrated machine of PC platform.

　　Mobile VR

　　The so-called mobile VR is a cheap VR mobile phone box — — With a pair of plastic lenticular lenses in the box and a mobile phone, you can turn your smartphone into a VR viewer. Of course, they still look higher than Cardboard. The cheapest product of this kind in the domestic market is only 10 dollars (65 yuan RMB, and the price will soon dive). Think about it, with low cost and ubiquitous smart phones, it is easy to catch fire.

　　According to the report, the retail sales of VR mobile phone boxes can reach 1,000 units per day, while the number of distribution channels can reach 10,000 units per day. Most buyers are locals or buyers from South Korea and Japan.

　　When asked what kind of scenes are the most popular, the answer is VR cinema, that is, watching 2D movies in 3D space, such as mobile phone boxes with their own apps, Storm Mirror and VRCase.

　　VR of PC platform

　　The building adjacent to the mobile parts is SEG Building, and there are dazzling electronic equipment retailers on 10 floors of the 72-story building. Here, we found some competing products of Rift and Vive, such as AntVR (Ant Vision) which provides DK2 as a general sample and costs about 280 dollars.

　　However, due to the high threshold of use, the VR of PC platform can be called "high-end" VR, so consumers’ enthusiasm for such helmets is obviously not as high as that of mobile phone boxes, so that investigative reporters think they are more like a novel display, although they are already cheap compared with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

　　virtual reality all in one headset

　　After traveling around Huaqiang North, you will find that the secondary reason for the rapid expansion of VR is — — Halo effect of non-VR helmet. Why do you say that? These devices are called VR all-in-one. They are essentially stereo media players, that is to say, they use helmets to realize the cinema-like viewing experience. In fact, there is no built-in gyroscope or acceleration sensor — — Devices that can’t track head movements are not real VR products. Their characteristics are that they are all equipped with large screens, and they can play content based on Android platform. In addition, such devices also provide USB ports, allowing users to connect USB flash drives and watch their downloaded content. Its price ranges from 120 dollars to 600 dollars.

　　There are many factors contributing to the prevalence of these products. For example, with the high price of high-end equipment such as Sony HMZ and Vuzix iWear (799 US dollars and 500 US dollars respectively), more and more low-cost substitutes are born. But at the same time, more immersive VR all-in-one machines equipped with sensors are being released one after another, such as Storm Devil and LeTV VR helmet.

　　The investigative reporter also bought a set of head-mounted display equipment called Bijela iTheater, which can basically be an all-round tablet computer. This device operates like a computer, with many desktop applications (e-mail, web browser, and even Kindle reader). However, it is small in size and suitable for backpacking, and the price is about $190, which is 40% lighter than GearVR plus mobile phone. Obviously, these devices whose prices and functions are just between PC VR and mobile VR are likely to become popular among young consumers.