Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of US tech giant Metaplatforms, will meet Cho Joo Wan, CEO of LG Electronics, on or around February 28 to discuss joint development and launch of an augmented reality (XR) headset. An industry source said that he plans to meet with the CEO of the company in Seoul. Sunday.
The initial reason for Zuckerberg’s first visit to South Korea in 10 years is talks with LG regarding the XR headset, with the two companies expected to formally announce a partnership to co-develop the device, industry sources said. Ta.
The company plans to release an XR headset in the first half of next year, which will surpass Apple’s latest mixed reality (MR) headset, Vision Pro, in terms of performance. LG and Meta plan to leverage their respective hardware technology and artificial intelligence expertise in their next products, the person added.
The XR sector encapsulates virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). XR device users can experience his 3D virtual world of virtual meetings and live translated captions in foreign languages.
OS for LG’s Meta headset
Mr. Zuckerberg and Mr. Cho will also discuss the application of LG’s smart device operating system (OS) to the XR headset and the use of LG’s Meta AI services for consumer electronics.
According to people familiar with the matter, LG asked Meta to use LG’s OS for its XR headset. The OS will offer games, language education, and news content, and is expected to generate more than 1 trillion won ($750.5 million) in advertising revenue from app developers.
Once LG’s OS is incorporated into Meta’s XR headset, sales are expected to increase significantly.
The companies will also discuss the use of on-device AI in headsets. On-device AI allows smart devices to collect and analyze data without the need for remote cloud servers, improving device performance.
Possible benefits
According to sources, LG is looking to secure big data on global consumers in their teens and 20s through the partnership with Meta, as young people are expected to be the main users of XR headsets.
Big data about users around the world will be very advantageous for LG to develop customized products and will enhance the company’s cutting-edge AI technology, the official added.
LG Group affiliates such as LG Display Co. and LG Innotek will also supply products for the XR headset.
LG Display is developing micro organic light emitting diode (OLEDoS) technology, and camera module maker LG Innotek is promoting the production of premium lenses.
Last month, LG Innotek announced that it had acquired a stake in AOE Optronics, an automotive lens manufacturing subsidiary of Taiwan-based Asia Optical, to strengthen its leadership in the global automotive and XR camera module markets.
Meta has about 49% of the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headset market, but other global technology giants such as Apple and Sony are also taking on the challenge with their own devices. Samsung Electronics also aims to launch its first XR headset this year in partnership with Google LLC and Qualcomm Technologies.
The global XR device market is predicted to grow to $35.7 billion by 2026, and the XR headset sector will be dominated by three companies: Apple, the Meta-LG alliance, and the Samsung-Google-Qualcomm alliance. said the person.
Competition in the XR headset market will be similar to the early smartphone industry, with companies putting their reputations on the line, the person added.
Write destination Jeong-Soo Hwang, Eui-Myung Park, Ye-Rin Choi, hjs@hankyung.com
Kim Ji-hyun edited this article.
