LG pumps brakes on Meta partnership as headsets struggle to sell

LG Electronics CEO William Cho, left, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, center, pose for a photo after forging a headset partnership in Seoul on Feb. 28. [LG ELECTRONICS]

LG Electronics is slowing down its extended reality (XR) project with Meta as the headset market struggles to get off the ground due to its lack of available content and the slow maturation pace of its technology.

“LG Electronics continues the XR partnership with Meta forged in February but is controlling its pace,” said an LG Electronics spokesperson on Monday.

Reports that LG Electronics had parted ways with Meta in the development of XR devices have been flooding in since Sunday. Some outlets indicated that the Korean conglomerate had terminated the partnership after concluding that it had little to gain from collaborating with the U.S. firm. LG denied having terminated the partnership.

The landmark XR collaboration was announced in February after a two-hour Seoul meeting between LG Electronics CEO William Cho and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

It was intended to bring together Meta's mixed reality platform, already popularized through the Quest headset series, and content from LG's TV business. LG Electronics' manufacturing capabilities and global sales network were also expected to create a win-win effect. Cho had expected products resulting from the collaboration to hit the market as early as 2025.

Industry sources attribute the pushed-back schedule to the current tepid response to headsets.

Apple's Vision Pro, a mixed reality headset which launched early this year to much hype, has sold fewer units than expected.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently reported that Apple had adjusted Vision Pro shipments for 2024 to between 400,000 and 450,000, down from the market consensus of 700,000 units.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]