At CES 2023, TCL was showcasing the RayNeo X2, a full-color MicroLED optical waveguide set of AR glasses. The company that created the technology for the glasses, Thunderbird Innovation, was founded in 2021 by TCL with talent from Tencent, DJI, Meta, Oppo, and IQIYI. The company develops near-eye optical technology, as well as software to support AR applications. Thunderbird just received $14.5 million in its first round of financing from a number of Chinese VCs. Also investing is Doctor Glasses, an eyewear chain in China, which is going to work with Thunderbird in the lab on market fit in addition to channeling offline sales through its 300+ stores.
The Chinese market is expected to ship over 11 million AR glasses in 2023. TCL has been the number one company in this category with the Thunderbird brand. But, there is also a TCL RayNeo X2 with binocular full-color holographic optical waveguide Micro-LED displays. The RayNeo X2 is closer to conventional eyeglasses in design, they provide heads-up display when using various functions like smart navigation, auto-translation, photography, and music-playing. Additionally, theThunderbird glasses are being branded as the TCL Nxtwear S for the U.S. market. The display for all devices has been developed by TCL CSOT.
@tcl #SeeMeIn2023 Look smart like Clark. That’s navigation and translation on the new #TCLRAYNEOX2 wearable AR glasses.#CES2023 #TCLxCES #DisplayGreatness ♬ original sound – TCL
Chinese companies tend to forge an organic business structure with numerous interconnected entities working on component parts of a grander strategy that leads back to a larger benefactor or parent company. The Harvard Business Review talks about Chinese companies reinventing the role of management by creating teams around specific business opportunities with a great deal of autonomy. In this case, TCL is able to leverage multiple channels to sell the product while centralizing its own role as the display manufacturer to get most of the contract business. Thunder Innovation has a very big customer with global reach, a large manufacturing partner, a retail partner, and money to spend on technology, all at the same time. Seems to be working really well for TCL, too.
The other point of interest is that the Chinese seem to be moving on a broad inclusion of metaverse concepts, and seemingly aiming to be the first country in the world to have a fully integrated metaverse. What that actually means is that digital platforms are aligning to create an end-to-end experience for Chinese consumers and businesses to take advantage of VR and AR.
