Zuckerberg meets with Samsung executives over Meta Quest Pro

SILICON VALLEY – Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of US tech giant Meta Platforms Inc., has met with senior officials of Samsung Electronics Co. to discuss a possible business tie-up, including joint work on Meta’s latest virtual reality (VR) headset Meta Quest Pro.

On Oct. 13, Zuckerberg made an unannounced visit to Samsung Research America in Mountain View, California, to seek help from Samsung in improving the quality and user experience of the new Meta headset, according to people close to the matter.

While meeting with Samsung device experience chief Han Jong-hee, and Roh Tae-moon, also known as TM Roh, president and head of Samsung's mobile communications division, Zuckerberg also proposed collaboration with the Korean tech giant over next-generation mobile devices and discussed future innovation trends, the sources said.

The meeting came one day after Samsung hosted an annual developer conference in San Francisco where it unveiled a new user interface, One UI 5, for its Galaxy smartphones, and agreed to expand its partnership with Google LLC.

Industry watchers said it is unclear whether Samsung will accept Zuckerberg’s proposal, as the Korean company has also been approached by other Big Tech companies for a business partnership.

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Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is betting its future on the creation of a metaverse – a virtual world where people can carry out their everyday lives, in the form of avatars, as well as explore fantasy virtual spaces.

At Meta Connect 2022, the company's annual gathering of augmented and VR software developers, Meta Platforms unveiled its new high-end mixed reality headset, Meta Quest Pro.

Unlike its predecessor, Quest Pro has mixed reality capabilities, meaning that digital content can be viewed as an overlay on the real world.

It also boasts improved features such as thinner lenses and a curved battery around the head strap. But consumers have complained it’s expensive.

With a price tag of $1,499, Quest Pro is almost four times the price of Meta's current headset, the Quest 2, which starts at $399.

When fully charged, the headset can be used for only one hour. 

Shares of Meta Platforms fell nearly 4% on the day the company unveiled the new headset, as consumers were disappointed with the new gadget, industry officials said.

Industry watchers said Meta Platforms is using an open ecosystem for its new devices as part of efforts to collaborate with tech juggernauts like Samsung to better appeal to consumers.

Many tech firms, including Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, are developing VR and AR devices to build their own metaverses.

According to market research firm Statista, the VR and AR market, which encompasses devices, solutions and content, is expected to grow to $296.9 billion by 2024 from $30.7 billion in 2021.

Write to Ki-Yeol Seo at philos@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.