ByteDance, parent company to TikTok and VR headset creators Pico Interactive, announced at MWC 2022 that it’s partnering with Qualcomm, something that could help the chipmaker better diversify as the XR industry continues to expand.
During Qualcomm’s keynote at this year’s MWC, company CEO Cristiano Amon said that Meta brought “significant scale” with the release of its popular standalone VR headset Quest 2, which houses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 processor.
As competition with Meta grows, Qualcomm is no doubt looking to make sure it has plenty of hardware partners moving forward who will integrate those Snapdragon chips into the next generation of XR headsets.
To that effect, Qualcomm says its collaborating with ByteDance on XR hardware, software, developer tools, and technology road maps—specifically targeted at Pico Interactive, which was acquired by ByteDance in August 2021.
ByteDance CEO Rubo Liang said that Pico devices will be powered by Snapdragon Spaces XR too, Qualcomm’s developer platform that allows creators to make 3D applications for smartphone-tethered AR glasses.
Pico is almost entirely dedicated to enterprise VR outside of China, serving up its standalone Pico Neo 3 Pro, which also has Qualcomm’s popular Snapdragon XR2. That may change though as China-based TikTok parent company looks to compete with Meta outside of the world of snackable videos, and better position itself as a so-called ‘metaverse company’.