Facebook may finally make its entry in China. According to a report in news agency Reuters, Tencent Holdings is in talks with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc to distribute its Meta Quest line of virtual reality headsets in China. The talks between Tencent and Meta reportedly started last year and have continued in recent months. The reports though are still in early stage, if successful they will give a Facebook product its first-ever entry in China. Facebook is among several other US companies that are banned in China.
Facebook wings for Tencent’s VR ambitions
The world’s largest video game publisher Tencent had ambitious plans to build both virtual reality software and hardware at an “extended reality” XR unit it launched in June last year. However, the company recently decided to quit developing its own XR hardware due in part to profitability issues. It told most employees in the unit to find opportunities elsewhere. In a statement, Tencent then said that it was making adjustments to some business teams as development plans for hardware had changed. Tencent’s one of the main rivals in China’s virtual reality space is TikTok owner ByteDance, which owns headset manufacturer Pico. In August 2021, Tencent and ByteDance fought a fierce acquisition battle for the VR device producer Pico.
From Oculus Quest to Meta Quest
For those unaware, Meta Quest is the new name of the company’s VR headsets formerly known as Oculus. Founded in 2012 by a group of independent developers and hardware enthusiasts, Oculus was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Facebook acquired Oculus in the year 2014 for a massive $2 billion. This brought Oculus’ VR capabilities under Facebook’s fold. Since then, Oculus has come out with several headset variants including Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, and Oculus Quest 2. These, after a recent rebranding, are called Meta Quest or Meta Quest 2.
Facebook wings for Tencent’s VR ambitions
The world’s largest video game publisher Tencent had ambitious plans to build both virtual reality software and hardware at an “extended reality” XR unit it launched in June last year. However, the company recently decided to quit developing its own XR hardware due in part to profitability issues. It told most employees in the unit to find opportunities elsewhere. In a statement, Tencent then said that it was making adjustments to some business teams as development plans for hardware had changed. Tencent’s one of the main rivals in China’s virtual reality space is TikTok owner ByteDance, which owns headset manufacturer Pico. In August 2021, Tencent and ByteDance fought a fierce acquisition battle for the VR device producer Pico.
From Oculus Quest to Meta Quest
For those unaware, Meta Quest is the new name of the company’s VR headsets formerly known as Oculus. Founded in 2012 by a group of independent developers and hardware enthusiasts, Oculus was funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Facebook acquired Oculus in the year 2014 for a massive $2 billion. This brought Oculus’ VR capabilities under Facebook’s fold. Since then, Oculus has come out with several headset variants including Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, and Oculus Quest 2. These, after a recent rebranding, are called Meta Quest or Meta Quest 2.
Meta founder and chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that Meta’s new next-generation consumer headset which will be launched “later this year” will feature a better mixed reality (MR) technology. “Later this year, we’re going to launch our next-generation consumer headset, which will feature Meta Reality as well, and I expect that this is going to establish this technology as the baseline for all headsets going forward, and eventually of course for augmented reality (AR) glasses as well,” he said.
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