MS Mixed Reality - Basically a bust
With the release of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update back in October and the announcement from vendors like Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo of the availability of relatively low cost mixed reality headsets - MS was hoping to potentially spark some additional PC sales based on the Intel Core 8th Gen CPUs in Q4.
The fact is it didn't happen. Today most MR headsets are selling at about 50% of their original pricing - so around $200 and prices had already fallen to that level by the Christmas holidays..
Hopefully the OEMs managed their supply chain well enough to not have too much of a surplus. Even Non-MS headsets like Oculus Rift amd HTC Vive sets are selling at a discount here in Jan..
Today while the technology is promising, it's still a niche product. The only set that makes any sense to me is HoloLens - but @ $3000 for the Developer Kit and $5000 for the Commercial Kit it's well out of reach for most folks. Plus there is really no consumable content - anything that is developed is all custom and for things like jet engine inspection or anatomy.
To me MR will only hit the mainstream when the headset can be wireless and sustain the frame rates and sound to make the experience memorable. Until then - it's just a gimmick.
What also didn't turn up as much were all the MR games that MS showed so prominently when the MR headsets were announced. While there are some 54 titles currently listed in the MS Store - there are maybe 3 or 4 that are what you would describe as mainline games, the rest are either demos or pseudo games selling for $3.49.
So here we are in 2018 and the next big thing for MS is ARM based Always Connected PCs. HP, Asus, Lenovo and Acer will be the first to show up. The expectation is that these devices will be available when the Redstone 4 branch completes in March. Hell RS4 doesn't even have an official name yet...
Are these devices interesting - yes. Will they move the needle on PC sales - probably not. Will I buy one - most likely no.
To me 2018 may be the year of the Chromebook. Google's Pixelbook is excellent and I am really interested in HPs ChromeBox G2. And while refreshes to devices like Dell XPS laptop are interesting - I would probably buy a Pixelbook over a new XPS 13.
It going to be interesting to see how much of a bite Google's Pixel 2 phone took out of Samsung and Apples US sales. Not that I expect Google to suddenly be a top 5 Smartphone vendor - but my Pixel 2 XL is excellent and in my opinion much more desirable than a Galaxy S8 or iPhone X.
The fact is it didn't happen. Today most MR headsets are selling at about 50% of their original pricing - so around $200 and prices had already fallen to that level by the Christmas holidays..
Hopefully the OEMs managed their supply chain well enough to not have too much of a surplus. Even Non-MS headsets like Oculus Rift amd HTC Vive sets are selling at a discount here in Jan..
Today while the technology is promising, it's still a niche product. The only set that makes any sense to me is HoloLens - but @ $3000 for the Developer Kit and $5000 for the Commercial Kit it's well out of reach for most folks. Plus there is really no consumable content - anything that is developed is all custom and for things like jet engine inspection or anatomy.
To me MR will only hit the mainstream when the headset can be wireless and sustain the frame rates and sound to make the experience memorable. Until then - it's just a gimmick.
What also didn't turn up as much were all the MR games that MS showed so prominently when the MR headsets were announced. While there are some 54 titles currently listed in the MS Store - there are maybe 3 or 4 that are what you would describe as mainline games, the rest are either demos or pseudo games selling for $3.49.
So here we are in 2018 and the next big thing for MS is ARM based Always Connected PCs. HP, Asus, Lenovo and Acer will be the first to show up. The expectation is that these devices will be available when the Redstone 4 branch completes in March. Hell RS4 doesn't even have an official name yet...
Are these devices interesting - yes. Will they move the needle on PC sales - probably not. Will I buy one - most likely no.
To me 2018 may be the year of the Chromebook. Google's Pixelbook is excellent and I am really interested in HPs ChromeBox G2. And while refreshes to devices like Dell XPS laptop are interesting - I would probably buy a Pixelbook over a new XPS 13.
It going to be interesting to see how much of a bite Google's Pixel 2 phone took out of Samsung and Apples US sales. Not that I expect Google to suddenly be a top 5 Smartphone vendor - but my Pixel 2 XL is excellent and in my opinion much more desirable than a Galaxy S8 or iPhone X.
Comments
Post a Comment