Qualcomm (QCOM) and the Facebook Origin Meta (dead) keep leaning more into the metaverse. The latest move comes in the form of a new multi-year agreement between the companies that will see Meta use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR platform to power VR and AR devices for the foreseeable future.
The news came during the keynote speech by Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon at the IFA conference in Berlin on September 2.
“By partnering with Meta, we are bringing together two of the world’s metaverse leaders to revolutionize the future of computing for billions of people in the coming years,” said Amon.
“Building on our shared leadership in XR, this agreement will allow our companies to provide the best hardware and expertise to transform the way we work, play, learn, create, and connect in a fully realized metaverse.”
Meta already uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform to power the Meta Quest 2, and the original Quest ran on the Snapdragon 835, so the two companies are familiar with each other.
As we continue to build more advanced capabilities and experiences for virtual and augmented reality, it has become important to build specialized technologies to power future VR headsets and devices.
dead Quest price raised 2 Headset in July from $100 to $399 for a 128GB headset and $499 for 256GB. This move was a head-scratcher looking at Quest 2 first . Device makers usually lower their prices over time.
During an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast last month, Zuckerberg said his company is preparing to launch a new headset next month. The device is largely expected to be Meta’s much-anticipated Project Cambria platform. The headset is expected to cost significantly more than the Quest 2 and could be aimed at enthusiasts.
Meta is pumping money into its attempts to own the metaverse, pumping $10 billion into the project in 2021 alone. Zuckerberg has admitted that it will continue to cost the company billions of dollars for years to come.
As it stands, Horizon Worlds’ metaverse special leaves much to be desired. The graphics are still somewhat rudimentary compared to modern high-end video games and there is not much to do outside of some of the basic games.
I wrote in my last column That enterprise is the best way for companies to demonstrate the value of the metaverse to consumers. Meta is already working on these types of capabilities via Horizon Workroom, although it’s not alone. Microsoft (MSFT) has a similar product in its Teams Mesh.
nvidia (NVDA), meanwhile, is moving forward with its Omniverse software designed for enterprise solutions including creating digital twins for engineering purposes, among others.
Most consumers still do not understand metaverses. According to Forrester, about 23% of online adults in the US are familiar with the metaverse. This number drops dramatically outside of the United States with only 17% of German adults knowing about the metaverse.
If the Meta’s big bet is to pay off, he’ll need to do more to convince his broad user base about why he needs to jump into the metaverse in the first place.
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