Microsoft's New Venture

Microsoft is reportedly looking to compete with Apple's Vision Pro headset with new hardware it would develop in partnership with Samsung.

This collaboration could signify a significant shift in the tech landscape. According to a South Korean outlet, The Elec, Microsoft plans to order hundreds of thousands of OLED panels from Samsung for a device slated for mass production in 2026.

A Spatial Computing Focus

The Verge clarified that this upcoming device would be a headset meant for spatial computing, not virtual reality.

This distinction is critical, as spatial computing devices offer a different immersion level than traditional VR headsets. Even if the device isn't specifically for the metaverse, it can still interface with it, much like any other display device.

Metaverse Hardware Expands

The metaverse isn't a singular place anymore than the Internet is. Those interfacing with metaverse applications have the same options as those interfacing with any other networked form of digital communication: screens. Some screens are big, like TVs, and others are small, like the ones inside a virtual reality headset.

Despite what the tech media world seems to want you to believe, the market for both 'virtual reality' and 'metaverse' hardware is expanding.

The Bigger Picture

Marketing hype and confusion over exactly what the 'metaverse' is over the past few years have led to the perception that it is dying.

However, the evidence suggests otherwise. Apple is working on a successor to its Vision Pro, a spatial computing company used by more than half of the Fortune 500. Despite the partnership's past flops, Google is working with its old partner, Magic Leap, to develop a new mixed-reality headset.

A United Front

Meta, the company that changed its name from 'Facebook' to signify its shift to creating metaverse technology, is still pouring billions into its metaverse division.

Meanwhile, every inch of territory gained in the quest to onboard the general public into the metaverse represents a win for Nvidia, whose GPUs power both the graphics and artificial intelligence necessary to bring digital universes to life.

Assuming the report from The Elec is accurate, Microsoft's project brings the total number of companies in the top ten by global market capitalization developing new metaverse hardware to five.