At the beginning of 2023, taking advantage of the conference presenting its new smartphones, Samsung formalized a collaboration with Google and Qualcomm to develop a mixed reality product. However, the manufacturer did not give a timetable and today, as the year 2024 draws to a close, Samsung’s mixed reality product is still not showing up.
But the good news is that Samsung could take advantage of its next Unpacked event, during which it will present the Galaxy S25 series, to discuss the progress of this project. As a reminder, this event will take place in early 2025 and some sources suggest that Samsung could organize this Unpacked event in January.
According to the Korean news agency Yonhap, Samsung intends to present a prototype of augmented reality glasses during this event. The article suggests, however, that the product would not be ready yet and that Samsung could simply present a video or images.
Will Samsung succeed where Apple failed?
Of course, for the moment, this information should be considered with caution, since it does not come from an official source. However, it should be noted that Samsung does foresee the arrival of mixed reality products, in the roadmap that it presented when announcing its results for the third quarter of 2024.
Otherwise, it’s possible that Samsung has learned from Apple’s mistakes, and is launching a completely different product from Apple’s Vision Pro headset. As a reminder, due to its form factor and weight, this headset is not really suitable for outdoor use. In addition, the Vision Pro costs too much, but currently lacks crowd-pleasing uses.
According to Yonhap, instead of developing a headset like the Vision Pro or like Meta’s Quest, Samsung would instead prepare compact glasses that look like sunglasses, and which would weigh nearly 50g. The Korean agency indicates that after the presentation of the prototype at the beginning of the year, Samsung could market its glasses in the third quarter of 2025.
For the moment, mixed reality products are still struggling to appeal to the crowds. However, in a few years, it could be an important growth engine for tech giants, such as Samsung, Apple, or the Meta group.
- In 2023, Samsung announced a partnership with Qualcomm and Google to develop a mixed reality product, but today this product is still not available
- But according to a new rumor, Samsung plans to show off a prototype at its next Unpacked event, which could be scheduled for January 2025
- Samsung has reportedly developed connected glasses that are significantly more compact than Apple’s Vision Pro
- After the presentation of the prototype, Samsung could prepare a launch in the third quarter of 2025
