Facebook Targeting 1 Billion Users For New VR Headset

Facebook Inc FB has bold plans for its new Oculus Go virtual reality headset, which could positively impact the entire semiconductor sector, according to Bernstein's Pierre Ferragu.

Facebook's Oculus Go has a handful of notable characteristics that bodes well for the device's future prospects, including:

• The headset operates autonomously without the need for an external device.
• A high resolution LCD screen and virtual reality features.
• A price tag of $200 is "not a lot" of money.
• Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants 1 billion people to use it

Semiconductor investors would likely be excited with the device which will likely require "expensive leading edge chips" for processing power and battery life, Ferragu continued. The first version will likely include QUALCOMM, Inc. QCOM's Snapdragon 821 and the upcoming Snapdragon 835 will be a machine learning unit and likely included in future devices.

Moreover, each Oculus unit will likely contain the equivalent technology that is found in a high-end smartphone, the analyst added. Since it will sell for more than half the cost of most smartphones at $500, one billion users would keep busy 70,000 wafer starts per month, which is almost as much as the entire smartphone market today.

"The level of adoption of video in Facebook today is something nobody believed possible five years ago," Ferragu wrote. "The power of the network to spread a new use case is very impressive. A billion users for a $200 Oculus Go headset pushed by Facebook is a credible story."

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