trades
THE TECHNICIAN
A V E T E RA N T RA D ER TAC K LES T EC HNICALS
Real Expectations for Virtual Reality By Tim Knight
he adoption rate of new technology varies wildly. The iPhone, for example, succeeded almost immediately, and 100 million people now use them in the United States alone. MP3 players, on the other hand, stumbled along with modest sales for years, until Apple came along with the iPod and set the industry alight. An emerging technology that has not yet caught on—at least so far—is virtual reality (VR). Technologists have been talking about virtual reality for decades, and earnest attempts at launching products with mass appeal have been made repeatedly, but nothing’s achieved traction. Indeed, Facebook’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus probably marked an important peak in the most recent VR craze. Since then, customers have bought only a relatively small number of Oculus headsets and probably haven’t used them much. But a number of public companies are involved in virtual reality. Examining the performance and prospects of their stock, it becomes clear there’s a nearly perfect inverse correlation between a company’s dependence on the VR market and its equity success. In other words, companies that rely on VR have done dreadfully, while those with just a passing acquaintance with VR have done best. Let’s look at some.
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Up and back Stock price in Vuzix, which makes wearable augmented-reality devices, soared only to fall back to earth.
Home again Shares in Immersion, a supplier of “touch” virtual reality componentry, fluctuate in price but always seem to return to $7.
IMMR
Vuzix Vuzix (VUZI) is devoted to augmented reality (AR), which blends VR technology with the real world around the user. Products include personal display and wearable computing devices that include smart glasses. It’s an engineering-oriented company that’s come up with some extraordinary innovations, but the most amazing technology in the world isn’t going to make any difference to the bottom line if people aren’t adopting it on a
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luckbox | january 2020
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12/20/19 12:40 PM
