Meta Platforms Inc. META CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is reportedly heading to South Korea to discuss a potential partnership with LG Electronics Inc. (OTC: LGEIY) (OTC: LGEJY) for a new extended reality or XR headset.
What Happened: Zuckerberg is set to meet with LG CEO Cho Joo-wan in Seoul on Feb. 28 to discuss the joint development and launch of an XR headset, reported Korean Economic Daily on Sunday.
This visit marks Zuckerberg’s first trip to South Korea in a decade and is primarily focused on XR headsets.
The companies are expected to officially announce their partnership for the XR headset’s joint development. The product is slated for release in the first half of 2025, to possibly outperform Apple's first-generation mixed-reality headset Vision Pro, in terms of performance.
The XR sector encompasses virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality. Users of XR devices can experience three-dimensional virtual worlds for virtual meetings and live translated captions of foreign languages.
LG has reportedly requested Meta to use its smart device operating system or OS for the XR headset. The OS, which is expected to generate over $750.5 million in advertisement fees from app developers, provides games, language education, and news content.
If integrated with Meta’s XR headset, LG’s OS is expected to significantly boost its sales, the report noted.
Why It Matters: Earlier this month, Zuckerberg compared Meta's Quest 3 with Apple’s Vision Pro, asserting that the former is not only better in terms of value but also as an overall product.
Despite the initial excitement surrounding the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, some buyers are now returning the $3,500 mixed-reality headset, citing various issues. One of the main reasons for the returns is the headset's design, which some users find to be cumbersome.
They say that wearing the device for extended periods is uncomfortable and that its weight is noticeable enough to be a burden.
In January, it was reported that Google and Samsung are planning to use Qualcomm's new chip to create AR and VR experiences, potentially competing with Meta and Apple in the headset market space.
The global XR device market is forecast to grow to $35.7 billion by 2026, with the XR headset sector expected to be dominated by three players: Apple, the Meta-LG alliance, and the Samsung-Google-Qualcomm alliances.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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