From the new, cheaper Oculus to what we take on the road, some big tech battles are heating up. at CES this week.
1. Oculus Go
Oculus is the name-brand VR pioneer that I think will succeed, in much the way that NVIDIA chips are still bought over AMD ones that perform 99% as well. (sorry, HTC)
Source: The Verge
At a $199 price-tag, I may pick one of these up myself, and I sure see lots of others doing the same. Built by Xiaomi, these have a Spandragon 821 and should be set to dominate the emerging VR market, carving out a nice space for Facebook in VR media.
2. Byton's electric SUV
Never heard that name before this week, huh? Yeah, last year Faraday was the big hyped car at CES, this year's is Byton, built by former BMW execs. Boasting a huge dashboard display, this could have an interesting role in self-driving, where a surprising amount of revenue is foretold to be generated from digital cockpit software, entertainment, and advertising.
Source: Bloomberg
At under $50,000, I think a lot of people would buy this, but there's a hell of a competitive field with Tesla, and more recently Chinese companies NIO and WM Motor, not to mention old players with big lithium deals like VW and GM. Watching production stats on these into 2019-2020 will be interesting for sure - I'd be amazed if a non-Tesla electric hits the market this year under $50,000.
3. Alexa OnBoard
Partnering with Panasonic (also a big battery maker...), Alexa OnBoard is built to control vehicle and media functions, taking a different approach from the screens of Tesla and Bytom.
I see Amazon as one of the most under-valued companies in the world, and part of that comes from their lineup of services. Foremost, Alexa is the best-selling digital assistant - and with the installations of Apple CarPlay on the rise, OnBoard protects Amazon's market share of road-time.