[Special Stock] Ajinextek, National Representative of XR Glasses, the Flower of Metaverse... Doubling Growth Every Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] As Samsung Electronics joins the Metaverse Alliance, the development speed of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR) devices is expected to accelerate. This is why Ajinextek, which has embarked on domestic development of extended reality (XR) glasses, is gaining attention. Ajinextek has started domestic production of XR glasses to be applied to smart factory production lines. The development of smart factory XR glasses based on Ajinextek's micro organic light-emitting diode (OLED) manufacturing technology is being promoted as part of the Ministry of Science and ICT's ICT R&D Innovation Voucher Project. The previously developed LCD-based XR glasses are heavy, uncomfortable, and difficult to wear for long periods due to poor visibility. For smart factory monitoring, OLED-based (OLEDoS micro display) glasses with self-emissive driving characteristics are essential.

At 1:38 PM on the 4th, Ajinextek was trading at 11,150 KRW, up 9.85% from the previous day. Its market capitalization surpassed 100 billion KRW.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, as of the end of last month, there are 202 companies and institutions participating in the Metaverse Alliance. This is an eightfold increase from the 25 members at its launch on May 18. New members include Samsung Electronics, Shinhan Bank, Kookmin Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, SM Entertainment, Megastudy Education, Cheil Worldwide, Innocean, and CJ OliveNetworks.

The AR and VR industries have high expectations for Samsung Electronics' participation. Samsung Electronics has experience developing VR devices such as Gear VR and Odyssey Plus. Recently, it has also been conducting research and development on AR glasses. A representative from a small and medium-sized enterprise participating in the alliance said, "If Samsung Electronics shares even some VR and AR technologies or provides ideas on technology development directions, innovation will accelerate."

Automation robot specialist Ajinextek is accelerating its smart factory business. The strategy is to leap from its core business of motion controllers for semiconductor and smartphone manufacturing and inspection equipment to becoming a specialized smart factory company.

Since the beginning of this year, Ajinextek has started a demonstration project for mobile collaborative robots, which are key to smart factory implementation, and has embarked on domestic development of an open factory (OF) platform and XR glasses for smart factories.

Researcher Do-yoon Kim from Research Allem said, "Ajinextek, which succeeded in domestic production of motion control chips for the first time in Korea, is accelerating the development of XR glasses. As the use of the metaverse in industrial sites gradually expands, demand for XR glasses is expected to increase accordingly."

Ajinextek is working on domestic production of smart factory XR glasses in collaboration with Gumi Electronics & Information Technology Institute (GERI), and the project is being carried out over 19 months through the Ministry of Science and ICT's ICT R&D Innovation Voucher support program. Researcher Kim also reported that LG CNS, Hyundai Motor, and Samsung Heavy Industries are implementing the metaverse in industrial sites.

Ajinextek expects that domestic production of OLED-based XR glasses will enable visualization of smart factory production process monitoring, such as equipment operation and remote collaboration visualization. By implementing an open factory, the generated data will be shared with AI and deep learning specialized SMEs and schools to create various content and platformize it.

Researcher Kyuha Lee from NH Investment & Securities predicted, "XR (extended reality) devices that will realize the true metaverse are expected to grow at an average annual rate of over 100% for the next several years, leading the IT hardware industry as global companies such as Apple and Microsoft enter the market in earnest."

He added, "Long-term benefits are expected for set manufacturers leading XR devices and IT component companies developing and supplying related parts."