According to a report from Korean tech outlet The Elec, Microsoft has contracted Samsung to supply micro OLED display panels for what is described as “next-generation mixed reality devices.”

Citing industry sources, the report maintains the order could reach into the “hundreds of thousands” of micro OLED displays, with such a Microsoft XR device reportedly slated to arrive as early as 2026.

Unlike Meta’s current line of Quest headsets, the alleged Microsoft headset will be used for “enjoying or watching content such as games or movies rather than the metaverse,” the report maintains (machine translated from Korean), potentially putting it in competition with Apple Vision Pro.

Since Microsoft’s abandonment of its WMR platform late last year and ongoing stagnation around its HoloLens AR platform, the company has mostly concentrated on smaller XR software projects.

Microsoft HoloLens 2 | Image by Road to VR

In January 2024, the company released support for 3D and VR meetings in Mesh, its immersive chatting platform. The company later announced at its Build developer conference in May it was bringing Windows Volumetric apps to Quest.

Since the release of Vision Pro earlier this year however, competing—or at least preparing to compete—with Apple seems to be the order of the day.

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Samsung and Google confirmed in July their forthcoming “XR platform” will be announced sometime this year. The ‘platform’, which is thought to be hardware built by Samsung and an Android XR operating system built by Google, was previously reportedly delayed in effort to better compete with Vision Pro.

Meta is also apparently looking to compete with Vision Pro, with a device reported to arrive sometime in 2027.

Thanks to Brad ‘SadlyItsBradley‘ Lynch for pointing us to the news.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • g-man

    I wonder if they’re considering a WinARM standalone now.

    • NL_VR

      Standalone is the way to go for everyone.
      forcing you to be attached to somethinglike a computer or console/whatever will simply not work.
      it neccessary doeant mean the ability to connect to something like a computer, but even a standalone only device will be more successful than a device that must be connected to something

      • g-man

        True but WinARM was really the emphasis there. MS couldn't have built a Windows-based standalone with x86 but now they can with Snapdragon.

  • sfmike

    You can't trust Microsoft as any product line that does not make an instant 200% profit is axed and customer satisfaction and service is a concept they truly hate.

    • smover

      HoloLens 2 is out since end of 2019, 5 years ago. Who does sell an digital high end device during 5 years? Nobody. Do you think the VisionPro will stay on Apple Store for 5 years?
      The fact the HoloLens 2 is discontinued end of 2024 shows the opposite of what you are saying.

  • So they killed most of the Mixed Reality team to now restart it again? Makes no sense

    • Dave

      Wow that's not what's happening. It's a content consuming device.

  • Guldhammer_DK

    Wouldn't buy into anything from MS – they left their whole userbase to die and rot last time they ventured into VR.

    • Ardra Diva

      Gee, sounds like Sony

  • another juan

    great news. the more competitors, the better for consumers
    last thing we need is another duopoly in next generation devices, with all the abuse towards users and developers we have now

    • ApocalypseShadow

      Not really. Same Microsoft jumping in after someone else has done the work.

      It's the same company that canned Windows VR. Lied that they were going to release VR for Xbox One X, then canceled it. Same Microsoft that bought Bethesda, Inxile, Compulsion, Ninja Theory, Double Fine, etc and pretty much put a big hole in VR gaming. Thanks Microsoft. /S

      Gamers should stay way clear of anything they release when it comes to VR. While Hololens has been passed up by many other manufacturers in software and quality hardware for AR.

  • knuckles625

    Maybe Microsoft will do better next time. Maybe they'll manage not to pick a chief of MR division who (multiple times) watches VR adult content in front of female subordinates. Or maybe if it happens again, they'll discipline that chief.

    But probably not on all these counts…

  • I could get behind such a device offering multiple virtual displays for my desktop PC.

  • ApocalypseShadow

    Planned or in production. Microsoft can't be trusted.

    They have the money and resources to compete. Just like on console. But instead of making games, they bought up franchises and developers to keep games off of PlayStation but it backfired as most gamers aren't moving to buy Xbox systems.

    I'm VR, they killed their PC VR, canceled their console VR and bought up developers that made VR games and had them stop making them. Could have had an updated Skyrim in VR or even Start Field. Or any number of sequels from the indie developers I mentioned. They killed it all which didn't help VR any.

    Now they possibly want to get back in the headset game? They can go somewhere with that. No one is going to buy it. What's the point when you can just buy a Quest 3 and do the same thing they might be interested in which is media content or playing game pass. There's nothing they can bring to the table.

  • Ardra Diva

    Anyone paying attention already knows what this will be. it's going to be a "Copilot"+, AI-enabled visor, with a Snapdragon chip, a TOPS rating, "spatial computing", and the passthru cameras will do things like identify what you're seeing, link to web for knowledge or purchase, etc.