Meta & LG headset reportedly canceled and postponed to 2027
A report questions the partnership between Meta and LG. A jointly planned VR headset is said to be canceled and postponed until 2027.
In late February, Meta and LG announced a partnership to develop a "next-generation XR device" and potential successor to the Meta Quest Pro (see article image). Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited South Korea at the time and met with LG CEO William Cho to seal the partnership.
About two months later, the project was canceled, and the launch pushed back from 2025 to 2027, South Korean business outlet Sedaily claims, citing industry sources. LG's decision came after disagreements arose and LG concluded that "there was not much synergy" between the companies.
LG is said to be working on a headset that is currently planned for 2027. According to the report, there is a possibility that Meta is involved in this project. The site also claims that LG is looking to collaborate with other major tech companies and is currently actively negotiating with Amazon.
A report with many unknowns
The report raises more questions than it answers and should be taken with a grain of salt. It is not clear from the report what the status of the partnership between LG and Meta is, whether the headset planned for 2027 is still being developed with Meta, or if it is a solo effort by LG.
But Meta's efforts to launch a low-cost Quest 2 successor in China show that tech alliances can fall apart as quickly as they are formed. According to one report, a deal with Tencent has been suspended due to disagreements.
It's also unclear what form Meta's headset partnerships with Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox will take, and it could be years before we get an answer.
The situation is complex and ever-changing. I speculate that after the muted market response to Vision Pro, Meta is in no particular hurry to respond to Apple's first headset. The market for expensive VR devices is small and more of a distraction from Meta's goal of growing the ecosystem by getting as many devices out there as possible.
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