The virtual reality market in the West is currently dominated by far by Meta and his helmet VRthe Quest 2. In China and the surroundings of this great country, the situation is not the same given that Facebookand so Metais not welcome. On this side of the world, it is therefore PICO that stands out with helmets VR technologically modeled on those of Meta (same chip XR2). On the other hand, unlike the American company, the Chinese chain the models and has already released at least six or seven helmets VR in three years.
Until recently, PICO was very happy with this situation and only a few helmet models VR intended for the pros had crossed the border into the Western world. Since the takeover of the brand by ByteDance (TikTok), the situation has changed and the manufacturer is now determined to compete Meta by inviting themselves to Europe and America. Its latest approach, the first aimed at the general public here, was the launch of the PICO Neo 3 Linkfew months ago. It should be noted that the communication around this helmet was very original, since it is sold as being in the test phase and with the promise of a 35% discount on the next helmet. VR to come in the same year. More original as a sales pitch, it’s difficult. That said, it seems that these sales – however very limited – were enough to motivate the Chinese manufacturer and now the latter announced a press conference on September 22, at 2:00 p.m. This will be visible on Youtube and TikTok. If you prefer to live it in our company, we will propose a restream of the conference on Youtube.
With the arrival of this event, we now know that the PICO Neo 3 Link will come out of its test phase and that it will remain on the market. This therefore makes it possible to imagine that the helmet which will arrive will therefore not be its direct competitor. Therefore, this PICO 4 should either be cheaper than it to reach an even wider audience, or more expensive by offering features aimed at competing with the Meta Quest Pro. This last option seems unlikely given the communication oriented towards social networks followed by PICO. In the end, after the leaks of recent days – yes, it’s not just Rockstar, Ubisoft and Blizzard who experience it – so we expect a thinner, lighter headset with better resolution, lenses pancakes (finally) and above all a really aggressive price around 400 euros to stand out from the Quest which have risen sharply not long ago. To note, interest in PICO is not only financial or technical, it is also the only alternative to those who do not like what Mark Zuckerberg does. The fact of needing a mandatory connection to Facebook to use a Meta Questuntil last August, kept a lot of people out of the VR. Even if – FINALLY – it is no longer mandatory, PICO is seen by these people as the solution that will allow them to play VR without feeling “spied on”.
The most curious therefore only have two days to wait before the reveal of what the new helmet of PICO. Little surprise, while the chain Youtube of the manufacturer has less than 500 subscribers and that its videos do not usually exceed a few readings, the teaser (which tackles Meta on his playground) of what should be the PICO 4 has easily exceeded one million views. Real community interest or simple marketing boost? Answer on September 22 from 2:00 p.m.