ByteDance Acquires VR Startup, Wants To Compete With Facebook's Oculus?

JAKARTA - TikTok's parent company, ByteDance is rumored to have spread its wings to Virtual Reality (VR) technology by acquiring a startup called Pico.

"Pico's comprehensive software and hardware technology, as well as the team's in-depth talent and expertise, will underpin our entry into the VR space and long-term investment in this growing field," said ByteDance. .

However, ByteDance did not reveal how much the deal was worth. Pico was the third-largest maker of virtual reality headsets globally in the first quarter of 2021, with shipments growing 44.7 percent year-on-year according to IDC data.

With so few details about ByteDance's acquisition and plans for Pico's future, it's hard to make any definite predictions about what will happen in the VR space. Nonetheless, the fact that ByteDance has a foothold in the social media space seems to suggest that we will see some interaction between the two companies.

On the one hand, Bytedance isn't the only one to enter the VR market later, there's Facebook with Oculus first. Oculus and Pico have a lot in common.

Each makes a standalone headset with comparable specs and supported by their own proprietary software. The fact that each of them is now tied to a social media platform is of course interesting and could be a bit of a foreshadowing of where the VR space is headed in the years to come.

"We are optimistic about the future of VR and its alignment with our mission," said ByteDance.

Furthermore, it seems that ByteDance is also diversifying its business. In March, ByteDance acquired a major mobile game studio called Moonton for a reported value of US$4 billion, as it looks set to develop into a game.