What a pencil, written by Han Xiyan.
After leaving the science and technology circle for nearly four years, Luo Yonghao will finally return. 65438+1In the early morning of October 20th, Luo Yonghao once again announced that it would return to the field of science and technology after the New Year. Different from before, this time he also stressed that the era of mobile phones has passed, and the next generation platform will be seen, and the "next generation platform" is not the "meta-universe" that Zuckerberg said. The concept of "platform" runs through Lao Luo's entrepreneurial history. Hammer technology was not only defined as a mobile phone company in the early days, but also involved in various fields of science and technology. During the period of hammer mobile phone, Lao Luo said that the reason why he worked so hard and tired to make mobile phones was actually waiting for the revolution of the next computing platform. In the next generation platform revolution, VR glasses are an indispensable role. At the end of last year, Lao Luo also indicated that the entrepreneurial direction is ar, VR and MR, so it is speculated that the new company in Luo Yonghao mainly focuses on hardware systems, namely AR and VR equipment. An investor speculated on the pencil path that AR/VR glasses or other forms of products may be the entrance to the "meta-universe" that Lao Luo will build next. However, compared with the quick return of live broadcast, in the eyes of some investors, Lao Luo's so-called "next-generation platform" is a project with doubtful profitability, unknown industry risks and even high risks. "If it fails, it will be more than 600 million pits." But it is also in line with Luo Yonghao's character. Entrepreneurship will never take making money as the first consideration. Perhaps, as he said, "creating value for society, making the world a better place and promoting human progress" is the purpose of his entrepreneurship. In 2022, Luo Yonghao, the anchor with goods, went offline and Luo Yonghao, a tech entrepreneur, restarted. I hope to see you on the next generation platform as he said.
Return to science and technology circle
"See you on the next platform." 65438+1In the early morning of October 20th, Luo Yonghao forwarded comments from netizens on Weibo, and once again predicted that he would return to science and technology in the coming year. However, Luo Yonghao stressed that the era of mobile phones has passed, and the next generation platform will be seen, and the "next generation platform" is not the "meta-universe" as Zuckerberg said.
In order to return to the science and technology circle, Luo Yonghao has been preparing for a long time. First of all, he paid off his debts, for which he staged a "real return". The 600 million debt owed by Hammer Technology is close to being paid off. At present, the executor information in Luo Yonghao has been cleared, leaving only the information of stock right freezing. In addition, there is no restriction on high consumption in Luo Yonghao at present. Of course, clearing the execution information does not mean that all debts have been repaid, and Luo Yonghao is still working hard to pay the debts for the company as planned. Paying off debts does not affect him to warm up for his next venture. Near the end of the debt repayment period, Luo Yonghao mentioned topics such as re-starting, super-universe and high technology. More than once, but every time he didn't finish the whole story, he always hung the appetite of the people who ate melons. Luo Yonghao first announced its return to the field of science and technology on 20021019. Also in the early hours of the morning, when the hammer forum announced its offline, a senior hammer forum user posted with emotion. At that time, Luo Yonghao advised the netizen to look down. He "will return to the technology industry next spring, and the specific time is the date of debt repayment." He himself said that the next entrepreneurial project is also the so-called "Hyperspace Company". However, Luo Yonghao's "Hyperspace Company" may be different from the mainstream view. Luo Yonghao once quoted Twitter blogger ShaanPuri's understanding of the hyperuniverse. ShaanPuri believes that there are misunderstandings about the meta-universe. Most people think that the metauniverse is a virtual world, but the real metauniverse is actually not a space, but a strange moment, such as the moment when artificial intelligence is smarter than human beings. People's digital life value is greater than their physical life value. In Luo Yonghao's view, ShaanPuri's understanding of the hyperuniverse is much more reliable than Bizac Berg's. And Luo Yonghao's "singularity moment" may be the "next generation platform" he mentioned many times. For example, in July last year, he said in an interview that if the debt was paid off, he wanted to make a smart device combining software and hardware. What he wanted to do was a platform-level thing, not a business that was relatively easy to do. Five months later, he released the Weibo again, clearly indicating that the entrepreneurial direction is AR, VR and Mr. Wang. In fact, hammer technology was not only defined as a mobile phone company in the early days, but involved in various fields of science and technology. In addition, as early as 20 17, Luo Yonghao expressed his optimism about VR in a long talk with Luo Zhenyu, and even suggested that making a mobile phone was just waiting for the arrival of the VR era. He said, "The reason why you make a mobile phone so hard and so tired is actually waiting for the revolution of the next computing platform, because VR glasses are an indispensable role in the next generation platform revolution. The hardware and software of mobile phones, tablets and computers are all ready before VR glasses can be made. " According to ShaanPuri's understanding, when we pay more than 90% attention to the screen, virtual life is more important than real life, and that moment is the beginning of the meta-universe. Everything that Lao Luo has done may be to prepare for this moment.
"Next Generation Platform"
According to the analysis of known information, what kind of next-generation platform can occupy users' time longer? It is speculated that the new company in Luo Yonghao will mainly focus on hardware systems, namely AR and VR devices. An investor speculated on Pencil Road that AR/VR glasses or other forms of products may be the entrance to the "meta-universe" that Lao Luo will build next, just like Apple. Although Apple has long made up its mind to draw a clear line between ar and metauniverse, in ShaanPuri's concept of metauniverse, Apple is also contributing to the "metauniverse". From the perspective of Apple's future application scenarios of AR devices, it is to use AR technology to enhance the interaction between users and the real world, including but not limited to education, creation, industry, commerce and other fields. The future positioning of Apple AR devices is not a "game device", but a productivity tool. In addition, some companies are currently trying to use VR equipment to assist office work. Meta is pushing VR virtual meetings, Microsoft is also promoting virtual office work, and Accenture has purchased 60,000 OculusQuest2 headphones for training new employees. Will AR/VR equipment be the entrance of the next generation platform? Some supporters believe that when AR/VR devices become more popular in the future, it will become the new normal for employees to use headsets for virtual office. At the same time, with the popularity of AR/VR devices in the consumer market last year, its terminals have tens of millions of users, which is enough to carry more usage scenarios. As mentioned in the article shared by Luo Yonghao, the hyperuniverse is still a concept, not an opportunity. The hardware devices that the hyperuniverse needs to rely on are VR and AR. For example, if the hyperuniverse is the mobile Internet, then VR and AR devices are smart phones.
But there are also many celebrities who are not optimistic about the future of the hyperuniverse, including PhilipRosedale, the creator of the original hyperuniverse and the designer of the online game SecondLife. He didn't expect much from his invention, as he himself said, "It is not suitable for everyone, and maybe it will never be suitable for everyone." Musk also said, "I don't believe that people will give up the physical world and replace it with a virtual world, especially when they have a screen on their face, which will ruin your vision." As he said, no one wants to tie the screen to his face all day, and the discomfort caused by AR/VR related equipment needs to be improved. Although AR/VR has been heated up in the industry, its industrial maturity is far less than that of personal computers, smart phones and other industries. Of course, to be called the "next generation platform", the combination of software and hardware is the basic condition. Content is now one of the shortcomings in the VR/AR field. At present, the domestic AR/VR content industry has been limited by factors such as insufficient downstream applications, insufficient penetration of terminal equipment, and insufficient quality content. For merchants, if there is not enough soil, even if the investment is a preliminary experiment, it will not form a commercial scale effect.
A high-risk and high-return project?
"Are you willing to invest in Luo Yonghao?" Although Mr. Luo was dubbed as "the ghost lamp in the industry", many investors gave a positive answer when answering the pencil question, and the investment logic was basically Luo Yonghao. Many people commented on Luo Yonghao: Life goes on and entrepreneurship goes on. This is also an admirable point of Lao Luo. He himself revealed that in the second half of 20 16, when Hammer was "on the verge of bankruptcy, he thought of many ways out and even wrote a" will ". However, even on the day when the hammer fell, he chose to shoulder all the evils and successfully staged a "real return". He once said that if he was not in debt to others, he would never take making money as the first consideration of starting a business. Creating value for society, making the world a better place and promoting human progress are the goals. Luo Yonghao claims to be an "idealist struggling on the road", but idealists are usually lonely before they succeed. In fact, he himself knows that generally speaking, investors who are willing to support entrepreneurs in pursuing lofty goals are not because they support idealism, but because they tend to invest in high-risk and high-return projects; Investors who are unwilling to support entrepreneurs in pursuing lofty goals are not because they do not support idealism, but because they tend to invest in low-risk projects with stable returns. Undoubtedly, Luo Yonghao's long-planned science and technology industry venture is the next "high-risk-high-return" project. In the eyes of some investors, Lao Luo's so-called "next generation platform" is in a state of doubtful profitability, unknown industry risks or even high. For example, the VR industry gives people a feeling that it is getting worse every year because its commercialization path has not been opened, and the whole industry has been in the exploration period of pure burning money. This is true even if the concept of meta-universe appears now. Unlike smartphones and PCs, the technological maturity of Metauniverse lags far behind its popularity. For a long time to come, the strength of technology research and development will be the most critical factor to decide who can occupy the highland, which is what Luo Yonghao lacks. Since it is named "Next Generation Platform", it is naturally not just a simple VR device, but a product with more imagination and significance in more innovation. "In this way, the stall will be much bigger than the hammer mobile phone, and the risk will be much greater. If it fails, it will not be a hole of 600 million. " An investor said to the pencil. Of course, the theory of high return also exists. Compared with the saturated mobile phone market, although the related concepts of AR and VR have existed for many years, there is no real benchmark enterprise, and under the hot speculation of the concept of "meta-universe", a large number of investors are staring at this industry, waiting for the next goal to appear. If, as ShaanPuri said, we can focus more than 90% of our attention on the screen, then this is undoubtedly a blue ocean. In 2022, Luo Yonghao, the anchor with goods, went offline and Luo Yonghao, a tech entrepreneur, restarted. I hope to see you on the next generation platform as he said.