ByteDance, the Chinese company behind TikTok, has reportedly scrapped its Pico 5 VR headset in favor of a higher-end model designed to compete with Apple Vision Pro.
According to a new report from The Information seen by iMore, “ByteDance is canceling the next version of the virtual reality headset from its Pico subsidiary, the Pico 5” after sales of its Pico 4 “fell far short of ByteDance’s Expectations.”
However, this headset, which was seen as a rival to Meta’s Quest series, isn’t the end of ByteDance’s VR aspirations. Instead, the company is now putting all of its efforts into a “high-end headset” that has been in the works for some time. Codenamed “Swan,” the headset is “inspired in part by Apple’s Vision Pro mixed reality headset” but remains “largely experimental and conceptual” at this time.
In the meantime, ByteDance will still release an updated Pico 4, following the original which came out just over a year ago.
Setting a new trend with Vision Pro?
It’s very interesting that a company with the resources and clout of ByteDance would choose to walk away from the Meta-dominated low-end of the virtual reality market. As the report notes, the sector as a whole “remains relatively niche,” but this pivot to an Apple Vision Pro rival possibly signals a wider belief that companies see the future of VR and mixed reality in high-end luxury products more akin to Apple’s $3,500 headset.
Apple has confirmed the Vision Pro will launch “early” in 2024, with the latest leaks pointing to a rollout in March or possibly even earlier. It was recently reported that Apple had internally targeted January as a release window, but this looks like a slim prospect at this point. Apple’s “spatial computing” headset will offer entertainment and collaboration features as well as games, immersive environments, and much more.
