LG confirms plans to release XR "device" as early as next year

LG Electronics plans to release an XR "device" next year.

Cho Joo-wan, the company's CEO, told the Korean news siteThe Guruof reporters confirmed the plan.

由于在该引文的语境中，韩语并没有明确区分单数和复数，因此Cho到底是指单一的”设备”还是多个”设备”尚不清楚。

Cho told The Guru that LG Electronics has moved development of the XR device to the corporate division that makes its TVs to speed up development.

LG's history in virtual reality is short; in 2016, the company released a compact smartphone-connected headset for watching 360-degree video that received poor reviews, and in 2017, it showed off a prototype PC-connected SteamVR headset that never went on sale.

So what exactly is this new headset?

The odds are that it's a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2

Last October, Korean news outlet ETNews reported on the high-level XR chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, which was released earlier this month.

Qualcomm announced that XR2+ Gen 2 will power Immersed's Visor, Samsung's upcoming Google-powered headset, an unannounced new HTC Vive headset, China's YVR headset, and Sony's enterprise-grade "spatial content creation" headset.

However, it's worth noting that the ETNews report also mentions LG as a potential customer for the new chipset.

是否是与Meta合作的Quest Pro 2?

It's worth noting that Meta isn't mentioned in Qualcomm's list, despite being the premiere partner for the XR2 Gen 1, XR2+ Gen 1, and the base XR2 Gen 2. Part of the reason for this may involve LG, if other reports are true.

2022 South Korean news outlet SBS Biz reports that Meta has entered into talks with LG Display with the aim of securing a supply of OLED microdisplays for future headset displays.

Last September, a third Korean news outlet, Maeil Business Newspaper, reported that LG was working with Meta on a future Quest Pro headset.

The first headset from this partnership is scheduled to be released in 2025, the report said, coinciding with a statement from the company's CEO, and will be priced at around $2,000.

Considering LG's expertise in hardware, the partnership with Meta could be about launching a truly high-end headset to compete with Apple's VisionPro和即将由Google软件驱动的三星头显竞争。

However, it's worth making it clear that the partnership with Meta is still a rumor, and all that's been officially confirmed by LG is that the company plans to release some sort of XR device next year.