Facing Apple head-on! Meta Platforms will launch high-end headsets next year, priced at $2000.

According to South Korean media reports, Meta Platforms is planning to collaborate with LG to produce the next generation Quest Pro headset, with a specific release date set for the first half of 2025.

Sources quoted by the media stated that Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg will meet with LG CEO Kwang Mo Koo this Wednesday to finalize the details of the collaboration. This marks Zuckerberg's first public visit to South Korea since securing the GearVR smartphone headset collaboration with Samsung in 2014.

As early as 6 months ago, South Korean media had already revealed that Meta Platforms plans to collaborate with LG to produce a new Quest Pro headset, with an expected price of around $2000, significantly cheaper than Apple's $3499 Vision Pro.

The report also mentioned that while Meta Platforms is responsible for the software part of the headset, webOS (LG's TV operating system) will also be integrated in "some way". However, no further details were disclosed, leading to speculation that the new Quest Pro may feature a virtual LG TV, offering services like Netflix, Disney+, Max, PrimeVideo, AppleTV+, Hulu, Paramount+, and VUDU without the need for additional adaptation by the software developers.

This highlights a weakness in Meta Platforms' ecosystem. Currently, only Netflix is adapted for the Quest series headsets, supporting only 480p streaming without download and hand tracking support.

In comparison, the Apple Vision Pro has dedicated Disney+ and AppleTV+ apps, and supports platforms like Prime Video in its iPad version.

Meta Platforms has previously collaborated with Chinese and South Korean companies to produce its headset devices. For instance, Samsung was responsible for the hardware of GearVR, Xiaomi manufactured Oculus Go, and Lenovo jointly designed and manufactured Oculus RiftS. All three headsets bear the logos of their respective partner companies.

In addition to the collaboration between Meta Platforms and LG, another South Korean hardware giant, Samsung, announced last year that it is working with Google to produce an XR headset, with Google handling the software part. The product is scheduled to be released this year.

With Meta Platforms & LG, Google & Samsung, these two pairs re-entering the XR field, the high-end headphone market currently dominated by Apple may turn into a three-way competition next year.