US EditionMeta Just U-Turned on the Best VR Announcement It Ever Made — and Might Have Handed the Win to Android XR
Meta halted third-party Horizon OS sharing to prioritize first-party VR hardware amid budget cuts and a strategic shift toward AI glasses and wearables.
- This month, Meta paused its program to share Meta Horizon OS with third-party device makers, saying it will focus on building world-class first-party hardware and software.
- Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported Reality Labs faced potential budget cuts as high as 30% and Meta is shifting investment toward AI glasses and wearables next year.
- The partner program initially aimed to license Horizon OS to hardware partners including ASUS, Microsoft's Xbox and Lenovo, but partners have issued few updates and headsets may never launch.
- Consumers may see fewer device options as pausing Meta's metaverse program reduces prospects for a broader hardware ecosystem and creates uncertainty for developers building for Horizon OS and third‑party headset makers.
- Meta recently delayed mixed reality glasses codenamed Phoenix to early 2027 and says it will revisit third‑party partnerships as the category evolves.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Meta pauses third-party Horizon VR headsets program
Meta has "paused" its program to license its VR operating system to other hardware companies so they could build their own headsets using the platform, as reported by Road to VR . With the program, announced in April 2024, Meta announced that it would be licensing the Quest OS headset - which, at the same time, it also renamed to Horizon OS - to hardware makers like Lenovo and Asus. In a blog post at the time, Meta said that the program would gi…
Meta's Major VR Strategy Shift Leaves ASUS And Lenovo In Limbo
A year and a half ago Meta made what felt like a big move at the time; the company made the operating system that powers its VR headsets available to other manufacturers. Horizon OS was supposedly going to open the doors for a more robust VR ecosystem, that included support for mobile apps. However, Road to VR is reporting that these plans
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