10/07/20234min
Samsung has delayed production of its mixed reality AR/VR headset until sometime in the middle of 2024. And you can put the blame for the delay squarely on Apple and its Vision Pro AR/VR headset, uh, excuse me, spatial computer. An internal Samsung memo cited by SBS Biz says, “…we decided to review all internal specifications and performance, such as the design and panel of the new XR (extended reality) product.”
So why is Samsung taking its mixed-reality headset back to the drawing board? Apparently, Sammy was so impressed by Apple’s Vision Pro presentation at WWDC that it decided that some design changes and other revisions were in order. Among the changes that Samsung is expected to make include the addition of higher resolution displays and the use of faster chips to improve performance. Samsung plans on equipping the device with a Snapdragon chip and Google is developing the operating system which will most likely be based on Android.
Samsung has reportedly informed its panel suppliers of the delay. Originally, test production of the headset was to start at the end of this year with mass production of Samsung’s XR device scheduled to start in early 2024. Now we are looking at a three to six-month delay that could result in mass production of the product starting around the middle of this year.
The delay does prove that Samsung’s target here is Apple and its $3499 Vision Pro, not Meta and the upcoming Quest 3. Samsung’s decision to revise its XR device to make it even better might not only have to do with what Samsung saw in the Vision Pro preview but could also be a decision based on the trouble Apple is having producing the Vision Pro. Where Apple originally hoped to build one million units of the device this year, the actual number of units produced could be under 400,000 according to a recent Financial Times report.
This shortfall might give Samsung an incentive to design a device that is more likely to compete against the Vision Pro and satisfy early adapters who won’t be able to find the Vision Pro after its release. Based on the report out of South Korea, it seems that even Samsung believes that the only way it can compete with Apple’s spatial computer is to improve its own product before it is released.