Following rumors of a new extended reality (XR) headset, LG CEO Cho Joo-wan made the news official, confirming it could arrive as early as 2025.
It wasn’t clear if this would be an LG branded product or if the headset is made in partnership with another company, such as Meta, but the timing is right to launch an Apple Vision Pro competitor.
LG isn’t new to XR, but its last VR headset was released seven years ago. This makes it seem unlikely that the company known for TVs and supplying advanced display technology to Apple and other manufacturers would suddenly return to this abandoned product category.
LG is a leader in screen technology that has made super-bright TVs and transparent displays possible. These recent advancements, shown at CES 2024, make it clear LG is still pushing the limits of what’s possible. An LG breakthrough in XR displays could give competitors a way to challenge Apple’s Vision Pro, which features remarkably crisp 4K-per-eye screen resolution.
To add weight to the possibility of a second-generation Meta Quest Pro headset, rumors and leaks have suggested a partnership between LG and Meta as far back as 2022. While Meta’s 2022 Quest Pro didn’t sell well, it was the first attempt at a work-centric VR headset with mixed reality capabilities, aka XR.
In 2024, the interest in XR has skyrocketed. Even smart glasses manufacturers like Xreal and RayNeo are launching more affordable solutions amid Apple’s entry into the market. The Mac computer manufacturer rebranded its XR headset as a spatial computer, changing expectations for the Vision Pro.
It seems likely that Meta will want to join in with a direct competitor rather than expect its $500 Quest 3 mixed reality headset to stand up to the superior displays and performance of the $3,500 Vision Pro. If Meta does launch a new high-end headset, naming it the Quest Pro 2 would be most logical, but riding the wave of love for the Quest 3 could lead to branding it as a Quest 3 Pro.
To be clear, LG made no reference to Meta in The Guru, a Korean-language news source that reported the news. Meta hasn’t shared its plans for the future beyond the metaverse company’s ongoing commitment and funding to make AR and VR the technology of the future.
