Meta announces collaboration with multiple companies to build VR ecosystem and opens Meta Horizon OS to third-party companies.
Background:
Meta Quest Pro 2 is coming? Korean media reveals: Zuckerberg visits LG to discuss cooperation.
Table of Contents:
Meta collaborates with multiple companies to build VR ecosystem, opens Horizon OS for third-party use.
Competitor Apple lowers shipment volume of Vision Pro.
Market chooses Meta over Apple.
Head-mounted devices have always been a competitive field between Meta and Apple, and in February this year, Apple’s highly anticipated first head-mounted device, Vision Pro, was released and unexpectedly faced a turn of events. Many people complained about wearing Vision Pro causing physical issues, and there was even a wave of returns. Recognizing the mixed reviews for Vision Pro in the market, Meta seized the opportunity to collaborate with multiple companies and open its self-developed Horizon operating system to third-party manufacturers.
Further reading:
Bloomberg reveals five fatal reasons behind Apple’s “Vision Pro returns”: at least another 18 months to wait for the second generation.
On April 22, Meta announced that it will collaborate with Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox, a gaming brand under Microsoft, and provide the Meta Horizon OS that has been developed for ten years to the companies involved in this collaboration, jointly building the VR ecosystem.
Asus will develop a new high-performance gaming and esports head-mounted device.
Lenovo will develop mixed reality (MR) devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment.
Xbox will partner with Meta to create a limited edition Meta Quest inspired by Xbox.
Currently, Meta’s self-launched Quest 3 and Quest Pro head-mounted devices are equipped with Meta Horizon OS. By offering it to other companies, Meta indicates that other hardware devices in the market will also adopt this operating system.
At the same time, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also called on Google to integrate the Google Play app store into head-mounted devices based on Horizon OS. It also allows Steam and Microsoft’s Xbox cloud gaming to run in Horizon OS.
On the other hand, Apple has reduced the shipment volume of Vision Pro for this year to 400,000 to 450,000 units, far below the market’s expectation of over 700,000 to 800,000 units. Ming-Chi Kuo, known as the “top Apple analyst,” pointed out in a post that Apple had reduced orders before launching Vision Pro in non-U.S. markets, indicating a significant decline in demand in the U.S. market and Apple’s conservative expectations for demand in non-U.S. markets.
Meanwhile, Apple is also reviewing and adjusting its product roadmap for head-mounted devices. Therefore, Kuo also predicts that there may not be new Vision Pro models in 2025. Additionally, due to the decreased demand for Vision Pro, Kuo believes that new trends such as MR head-mounted devices, pancake lenses, and Micro OLED may fall below market expectations.
Shortly after Apple released Vision Pro, Zuckerberg shared his thoughts on Vision Pro’s performance on his personal Instagram. He mentioned that in most usage scenarios, Vision Pro’s experience was not as good as Meta’s developed Meta Quest 3. In his opinion, Vision Pro sacrifices many performance and comfort aspects for better resolution, and the price of $3,500 is seven times that of Quest 3.
Many people may think that Zuckerberg deliberately belittled the value of Vision Pro, but his comments sparked discussions on social media. Many VR users agreed with his views. Youtuber “Virtual Reality Oasis,” who specializes in VR content, also compared Vision Pro and Quest 3 in a video. For him, Apple Vision Pro is best for productivity and watching movies, but not suitable for use in public places when going out.
On various platforms, netizens commented that the advantages of Quest 3 over Vision Pro are: cheaper, lighter weight, and more user-friendly for ordinary consumers who want to enter the AR/VR field. The quality difference between Quest 3 and Vision Pro is not significant for ordinary consumers.
Regarding the collaboration with multiple companies to build the VR ecosystem, Zuckerberg also commented on his personal Instagram, stating, “In every computing era, there are open and closed modes. Apple’s closed mode dominates the smartphone market, where devices are strictly controlled, and user behavior is restricted. However, there is also another choice,” implying that an open mode may be the correct answer in the VR field.
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