Google and Samsung are taking on Apple and Meta with their own mixed-reality headset

By John Towfighi, CNN

(CNN) — Google and Samsung are stepping into the wearable headset race.

The companies are joining forces to release a mixed-reality headset that will compete with Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest 3.

The Samsung-built headset will be powered by a new Android operating system, pushing into a market that has been largely dominated by Meta.

The price of the headset, which is set to roll out sometime in 2025, has not been announced. But analysts expect Samsung to try to undercut Apple’s $3,499 price tag for the Vision Pro. Meta’s Quest 3 sells for $500.

The Samsung headset will be the first product powered by the new Android operating system for XR before the new OS becomes available for other companies to use in their own devices.

Android for XR — an umbrella term for various types of virtual and augmented reality — was built in collaboration by Google, Samsung and Qualcomm and will be able to power hardware devices like headsets and glasses.

Ted Mortonson, a managing director at Baird, told CNN that the headset — and the underlying operating system powering it — will help Google and Samsung gain a share of the market for wearable consumer tech while also positioning the companies for the future of consumer AI products.

“They’re doing a direct assault on Apple,” Mortonson said, noting that the partnership leverages Google’s extensive AI capabilities and Samsung’s reliable consumer tech hardware.

The Vision Pro has not taken off as much as Apple had hoped, Mortonson said, leaving the door ajar for Google and Samsung to step in.

Scott Kessler, the global sector lead for technology at Third Bridge, told CNN that Meta is perceived as a market leader and is in a strong position with its Quest 3 and collaborations with Rayban. Yet, given that headsets are still a relatively niche product, the market allows for experimentation.

“We’re in early stages,” Kessler said.

Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, said in an email that Google will try to undercut Meta to focus on the mass consumer market.

“This is a shot across the bow by Google to steal market share from Apple and Meta and signal they are not going to watch this market from the outside,” Ives said.

Mortonson also said this is a long time coming for Google, which was a pioneer in wearable technology with Google Glass in 2013, which was discontinued in 2023, and a VR headset called Daydream that released in 2016 before also being discontinued.

Google has also poured enormous amounts of money and time into developing its generative AI capabilities since it acquired Deep Mind, an AI lab, in 2014. Google rolled out Gemini, its core AI offering, in 2023. The new Android system will integrate Gemini, bringing features like an AI voice assistant and access to all Android apps to the headset.

Won-Joon Choi, the head of research and development at Samsung’s mobile business, said the company is “excited to collaborate with Google” in its effort to unlock new XR products.

“XR has quickly shifted from a distant promise to a tangible reality,” Choi said in a statement. “We believe it has the potential to unlock new and meaningful ways to interact with the world by truly resonating with your everyday lives, transcending physical boundaries.”

‘Nice to have, not need to have’

It was expected that Google would eventually challenge Apple and Meta in the wearable tech field, given the potential for growth in AI products, Kessler said.

For now, he said, this kind of headset is a “nice to have” as opposed to “need to have.”

“We’ve been reminded over the last year that as much as these products in some ways are pretty amazing in terms of their capabilities, there really isn’t anything that stands out, at least at this point, that makes these products required purchases,” he said.

Kessler also pointed to the release of Google Glass in 2013 as a moment when there was considerable excitement over a wearable tech product that eventually tapered out.

Baird’s Mortonson said that the real intrigue is the Android XR operating system and Google’s push into monetizing its AI products — something that will continue to heat up as Big Tech companies compete for market share.

“I think these companies are all trying to position themselves so that they can capitalize on opportunities when they arise,” Kessler added.

The-CNN-Wire
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