Meta, Apple, and Samsung Join the Battle... XR Market Competition Kicks Off Next Year

Samsung XR Devices Unlimited, Competing with Apple and Meta Next Year
Meta Leads Market Share... Apple Struggles Due to High Prices
Samsung Bets on Reasonable Prices and Expanded Ecosystem

Samsung Electronics has announced plans to release an extended reality (XR) headset next year, drawing attention to whether it will revitalize the somewhat stagnant XR market by establishing a three-way competition with Meta and Apple.

Samsung Electronics' XR headset device launching next year, 'Project Muhan' / Photo by Samsung Electronics

On the 12th (local time), Samsung Electronics unveiled its XR headset device, 'Project Muhan (Muhan),' for the first time at the 'XR Unlock' event held at the Google Campus in New York, USA. This headset, scheduled for release next year, will be equipped with 'Android XR,' jointly developed by Samsung Electronics, Google, and Qualcomm. Users are expected to have experiences that traverse both external and virtual reality (VR), such as exploring information through conversational interaction with Google's artificial intelligence (AI) while wearing the headset.

With Samsung's entry, attention is focused on whether it can ignite the dormant XR market alongside Meta and Apple. According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, global VR headset shipments decreased by 4% year-on-year and 28% quarter-on-quarter. The overseas IT specialist magazine 9to5Mac stated, "Samsung Electronics' new headset is expected to provide strong motivation for other products such as Vision Pro."

Meta Quest 3S / Photo by Meta Quest official website capture

The current global XR market leader is Meta. According to Counterpoint Research, Meta's global XR market share in the second quarter of this year was 74%, dominating most of the market. Meta is solidifying its position in the market with relatively affordable prices. Meta's budget device 'Meta Quest 3S,' released last October, starts at 439,000 KRW, and the Meta Quest 3, released last year, starts at 729,000 KRW. Meta is also focusing on differentiating game content, supplying 'Batman: Arkham Shadow,' the world's first VR game in the Batman series, alongside the launch of Meta Quest 3S.

Apple released its XR operating system 'visionOS' equipped 'Vision Pro' earlier this year. The Vision Pro, touted as the first spatial computer, features a compact design. However, Apple's market share remains low due to its high starting price of 4.99 million KRW. In the first quarter, the quarter of its release, Apple's market share was 16%, but it dropped to 3% in the following quarter. According to Bloomberg, Apple is expected to release a lower-priced model around $2,000 (approximately 2.8682 million KRW) as early as next year. Sales are predicted to be more than twice that of the existing Vision Pro.

Photo of wearing Apple Vision Pro / Photo by Apple website capture

Samsung is expected to compete with a lower price than Apple and a more expanded ecosystem than Meta. Samsung is reportedly deeply considering the price, which is a barrier to entry into XR. Bloomberg reported, "Samsung Electronics is conducting extensive research on what price range customers would feel comfortable with." The 'Android XR' platform embedded in the device is being built through open collaboration with existing Android, Open XR, VR, and mobile augmented reality (AR) communities, and the number of third-party applications (apps) and service content available within the platform is expected to continuously increase.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.