Xiaomi teams up with Jaunt for Virtual Reality content

Chinese technology giant Xiaomi has partnered up with VR (Virtual Reality) content provider Jaunt China. According to the memorandum, Jaunt China will develop an app for Xiaomi's VR headset, which was launched in late October.

The companies will cooperate in technology and marketing. Jaunt is a US company engaged in VR video shooting, editing, and distribution, state-run Xinhua news agency said.

The company launched Jaunt China this year with Shanghai Media Group and China Media Capital. "Xiaomi expects more high-quality VR videos produced by Jaunt on our platform", said Tang Mu, general manager of Xiaomi VR.

"The partnership with Xiaomi gives confidence," said Fang Gan, CEO of Jaunt China. Fang added that the company is working with many studios to create original content for Chinese customers.

China's VR market in 2016 is estimated at 5.55 billion yuan, according to independent data analyzer iiMedia Research. Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are providing seed funding for VR startups, especially for content creators.
Competition is increasing as phone makers move into mobile VR.