Five reasons why Microsoft’s Hololens2 debut at Mobile World Conference 2019 is a big deal
Hololens2 may not be Microsoft’s equivalent of Alphabet’s Waymo, but it still packs a big punch and, near-term, may deliver more value add. Tim Bradshaw’s story on the Hololens2 debut at Mobile World Congress 2019 sketches out five killer takeaways:
- Hololens2 will be a “job creator”, not a job destroyer
Behind public “shock and awe” response to what has now become a near daily debut of new “AI” and automation solutions is a dread these pieces make up a scary picture puzzle of a fast approaching world with a a lot fewer jobs.
What’s the effect? independent software vendors can’t achieve so-called “halo status”, where new solutions are met with uniformly positive review and public acceptance.
Not so Microsoft Hololens2. Bradshaw reports on how Microsoft seized the public perception opportunity and pointed out how the devices makes otherwise “normal” humans into “super human” workers ready, willing and able to tackle an ever expanding horizon of work opportunities:
“ ‘Devices like Hololens are enablers of jobs. They give people superpowers at work that they didn’t have before.’ ” (excerpted from Bradshaw’s story for the FT. Link is provided above)
2. HoloLens2 builds on Hololens and opens with a success story already in hand and ready for public review
Bringing to market the kind of products capable of prompting the deep, level 2 change enterprise customers almost always need, to create a home for them, is an admirable feat in and of itself. But nothing does a better job of sapping purchase enthusiasm than a lack of real-life examples of peers using the stuff and, further, using the stuff in a profitable way. Many products look great on paper, but, unless and until someone else they know and model after is using them, enterprise organizations won’t pick up on new products and, therefore, these products neither move out the door, nor contribute, meaningfully, to the bottom line. Most of them end up in the circular file.
Not so Hololens2. The “2” at the end of the product name is there for a reason. The device debuted at Mobile World Congress 2019 is an evolution of an existing product — Hololens. Bradshaw reminds readers of the debut date of the parent — 2016. In the 2.5+ years since the Hololens debuted, a targeted segment of big business customers-including elevator manufacturer Thyssenkrupp-are reported by Bradshaw to have profitably used the device to deliver a one-two punch of greater worker enthusiasm and real meaty, juicy dollar (or other currency) savings to the bottom line.
The first half of Bradshaws report on the Hololens2 debut includes a “mini success story”, complete with a quote from a named Thyssenkrupp representative, Javier Sesma, General Manager of “Thyssenkrupp’s Elevator [you guessed it] Innovation Centre”. What PR pro could ask for more?
3. Hololens2 isn’t managed by an “other bets” team. Hololens2 is managed by a team headed up by a proven executive who has already delivered successfully for Microsoft-Julia White
Getting back to the Waymo comparison: Waymo is undoubtedly the most promising business from Alphabet’s “other bets” group. But does it make sense for Alphabet to keep Waymo running within what can be called the set of businesses constituting an “afterthought”? At a projected market cap between $200 and $300 bil, we are talking about a business almost half as valuable as the parent. Come on Mountainview, kick this wunderkind into the top tier.
Not so Hololens2. Bradshaw includes quotes in his story from Julia White. Apparently White was in attendance at the Hololens2 presentation. A few year back White was driving another enormously successful Microsoft product — Office 365. You name the global big business, for sure they are using Office 365. In an otherwise brutally competitive marketplace (let’s not forget Google Apps — or is it Cloud? Hmmm — is out there for any business or large organization in the public sector at a lower price point) Office 365 is the clear winner. Not for nothing, White’s team delivered admirably on their mandate.
Julia White is now heading up the team tasked with delivering targeted revenue from Azure and, by inference, Hololens2.
4. Hololens2 expands on Microsoft’s vision statement: a real life edge device not connected to the corporate datacenter
Microsoft CEO introduced the concept of edge devices several years ago. Each of Microsoft’s competitors: Oracle, IBM, Google, SAP, even Amazon are now speaking the same language with numerous references to the importance of edge computing devices. As SiliconAngle reported recently on IBM’s very well attended Think Conference, 2019, Ginni Rometty alluded to autonomous vehicles as the next “edge” device of note, equipped as the CEO of IBM’s latest acquisition, Redhat, noted with containers (Kubernetes) of code optimized for collecting the data enterprises will need for high-value analytics.
Great! but keep in mind autonomous vehicles weigh multiple tons. Hololens2, a self contained (no need to tether to a PC or other external computer) smart device, in contrast weighs a couple of ounces. Enterprise customers, tomorrow (figuratively speaking. The Hololens2 is scheduled for a Fall 2019 release) will be able to deploy thousands of Hololens2 (or, more likely, Hololens3 or Hololens4 offered at a substantiall lower ASP promising volume purchase by customers) devices to capture the very rich sets of data deep learning/machine learning applications need to produce actionable intelligence.
5. Hololens2 comes complete with a moat-custom silicon specifically designed for the device & proprietary to Microsoft
Custom semi conductors are a very popular notion., Gartner Inc recently forecast a very large expansion in market size and breadth for custom silicon. As recently as February 24th 2019 in another story run in The Financial Times, the CEO of ARM (the king of System on a Chip-SoC-computing, and architecture provider for the Qualcomm SnapDragon processors mentioned running in the Hololens2), Simon Segars, is mentioned envisioning 100% increase in requirements for custom chips built merely on his company’s architecture, by 2022.
Bradshaw reports Microsoft came to market with custom semis specifically designed for use in the Hololens2 within a less than 36 month product development timeframe. He quotes Alex Kipman, Development Manager for Hololens2:
“ ‘Very few VCs are that patient. We are strategically patient on mixed reality.’ “
It’s worth noting Bradshaw also quoted Kipman painted an additional detail of Hololens2’s market moat: a less than 36 month development cycle for custom semi-conductors doesn’t come cheap- “…[no] less than a few hundred million dollars…” is usually required. The product position is clearly defensible.
Congrats to Microsoft. Sounds like a great product.
