Recently, Google has made headlines by acquiring several of HTC’s XR engineers, an initiative intended to “speed up the development” of its Android XR platform for headsets and smart glasses. This move comes after Google announced the Android XR platform last month, a significant development in the tech world that’s poised to shake up the competitive XR arena. Samsung is expected to be the first to release a headset utilizing this new platform, sparking enthusiasm among tech enthusiasts who crave familiar names to re-enter the XR market. However, this excitement is dampened by the skepticism many feel regarding Google’s commitment to long-term projects, given its history of shelving various products over the years.
For those interested in the details, Road to VR has an exclusive article that addresses some of these concerns from Google’s perspective. Yet, it’s hard to ignore the past instances when Google’s ventures, like the 2016 Google Daydream—its first real XR foray—ended up on the back burner.
As part of its latest strategy, Google has signed a deal with HTC to bring some of HTC’s XR engineers into its fold. While the specifics of this agreement are still under wraps, it’s suspected that Google is keen to leverage HTC’s hardware expertise to fortify its standing in the contemporary XR domain.
In their announcement, Google emphasized their long-standing investment in XR technology, stating, “We’ve been putting resources into XR for over ten years and recently launched the Android XR platform alongside key industry partners. By welcoming part of the HTC VIVE engineering team to Google, we’re enhancing the pace of Android XR platform development across the headsets and smart glasses ecosystem.” This team is known for its robust technical expertise and successful track record in VR, which could prove beneficial to Google’s XR ambitions.
Interestingly, this isn’t Google’s first endeavor in acquiring expertise from HTC. Back in 2017, Google invested a hefty $1.1 billion to onboard a part of HTC’s smartphone engineering talent. Following that, HTC unified its smartphone and VR departments, underscoring a shift in focus towards expanding its XR ambitions.
At this time, the full consequences of this deal for HTC remain a puzzle. Based in Taoyuan, Taiwan, HTC remains a key player in the production of XR headsets, serving enterprise clients and prosumers alike. Their newest offering, the Vive Focus Vision, is a $1,000 mixed reality headset that blends technology from the Vive Focus 3 and the Vive Elite XR models.
HTC hasn’t strictly confined itself to XR products, though the results have been mixed. Back in 2018, HTC ventured into the crypto space with the launch of the HTC Exodus 1, followed by another model a year later. They also introduced a 5G hub during the early wave of interest in 5G technology. However, these products are no longer available on the market, leaving us to see what HTC’s next move might be.
