Meta is reportedly partnering with LG for future Quest Pro headsets.
In November last year South Korean news outlet SBS Biz reported Meta had entered talks with LG Display with the aim of securing OLED microdisplay supply for future headsets. Microdisplays have significantly higher pixel densities and thus can enable higher resolution more compact headsets.
A new report from another Korean news outlet, Maeil Business Newspaper, suggests this has now resulted in a much broader partnership with the LG Group, involving multiple of its subsidiaries, to build future Quest Pro headsets.
LG Electronics will reportedly handle production, using LG Display displays, LG Energy batteries, and other components from LG Innotek. The first product from the partnership is reportedly slated for 2025, priced at around $2000.
The report says the "industry estimates" the headset could be named "Quest 4 Pro", but this is unlikely. Analysts and reports often get the name of future products wrong while still accurately describing the device. For example, several sources suggested Quest Pro would be named "Quest 2 Pro" and that Apple Vision Pro would be called "Apple Reality Pro". Given Meta's current naming scheme and repeated description of Pro as a separate product line, the more likely product name would be Quest Pro 2.
This wouldn't be the first time Meta has partnered with an experienced consumer electronics company for a VR headset. Oculus Go was manufactured by Xiaomi, and Oculus Rift S was manufactured and co-designed by Lenovo. In both cases, the headset bore the partner company's logo on the side as well as the Oculus branding on the front. How LG's branding will appear on the reported 2025 headset is not yet known.
This also isn't the only software-first Big Tech company partnering with a Korean hardware company on an XR headset. Samsung announced in February it is building a headset, with Google handling the software.
The report also claims the cheap headset Meta reportedly plans to release in 2024 (not with LG) will be priced under $200, though this seems difficult to believe given even the three years old Quest 2 is currently priced at $300.
We reached out to Meta asking about the report and will update this article if we get a response.
In March The Verge's Alex Heath said he viewed an internal Meta roadmap wherein the company's CTO told staff that a 2024 Quest Pro successor candidate had been canceled, and the VP of VR said that a “way out in the future” model would be the next in the Quest Pro line instead. He reportedly described the "way out" headset as having high resolution to read small text and photorealistic 'Codec Avatars'.
The LG partnership could be Meta's plan to bring this headset to market as soon as possible to take on Apple Vision Pro, which will ship in 2024 for $3500 with ultra high resolution Sony OLED microdisplays and realistic 'Persona' avatars.
Apple is reportedly experiencing significant production challenges limiting the scale of Vision Pro to less than half a million units in the first year, which may give Meta and LG time to bring their competitor to market. Samsung and Google are reportedly aiming for a roughly $2000 price too, so the high-end XR headset market could relatively soon become a heated three-horse race.
