It was reported that Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platform (Meta), who is visiting Korea for the first time in 10 years, is adjusting his schedule for a meeting with Jo Joo-wan, CEO of LG Electronics. There are predictions in the industry that the two companies will discuss cooperation in developing next-generation XR (extended reality).
According to the industry on the 26th, CEO Zuckerberg is expected to meet with CEO Jo Joo-wan during his visit to Korea to discuss joint development and launch strategies for the XR headset. Market expectations are rising as the possibility of cooperation between Meta, which has advanced capabilities in advanced technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), and LG Electronics, which has outstanding hardware technology, is raised.
Previously, multiple IT (information technology) media and sources reported that Meta and LG Electronics would collaborate to launch a high-performance XR headset in 2025. It is analyzed that the cooperation between the two companies was concluded as mutual demands met. Meta has been releasing VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) headsets into the market since 2016, but there are concerns that it may lose its existing dominance due to Apple’s recently introduced ‘Vision Pro’.
There have been predictions that Meta, the original player in the related field, will expand its cooperation network in earnest to strengthen competitiveness, and LG Electronics, which has been focusing on developing next-generation hardware, is being mentioned as a major partner.
In addition, cooperation with LG Group affiliates such as LG Display, LG Innotek, and LG Energy Solution is expected. LG Electronics will be responsible for mass production of the new product, and plans to strengthen the completeness of the XR headset by applying the technology of LG affiliates that are competing for the lead in each component industry.
LG Electronics has selected XR headsets as its new portfolio of mobile products to replace smartphones, and is expected to enjoy the advantage of being able to quickly enter the market through cooperation with Meta. LG Electronics has been applying for XR-related patents since 2019, and is known to be accelerating related research and development (R&D) by organizing an XR organization under its Chief Strategy Officer (CSO).
In relation to this, LG Electronics has recently begun to hire experienced employees in fields such as ▲XR device product planning experts ▲XR device business development and sales experts ▲XR subscription/rental business development ▲audio/meta device development quality assurance, etc., and is also taking steps to materialize its business.
In the industry, at this meeting between the CEOs of both companies, LG Electronics’ home appliance operating system (OS) ‘Web OS’ will be applied to headsets to be released through cooperation between the two companies, and Meta’s AI service will be applied to LG Electronics products to strengthen mutual service capabilities. It is expected that it will also be discussed.
Meanwhile, as the global MR (mixed reality) market is expected to grow to $22.9 billion (approximately 30.52 trillion won) by 2026, competition between big techs to take the lead in this field is expected to become more intense. am. Not only Apple but also Samsung Electronics expressed their intention to jointly develop the next-generation XR headset with Google and Qualcomm through the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event in February last year.