What They Say
Business Insider reported that Microsoft’s developments in mixed reality is a “mess, where confusion, rivalries, and canceled projects have roiled the company’s metaverse strategy”.
The site said that in an interview a couple of years ago that it was not so much a business as a ’rounding error’. It also said that in recent months, the company management has abandoned plans for a Hololens 3 and instead done a deal with Samsung to develop a new headset.
The DoD contract for the Hololens is ‘plagued by quality and performance problems’, the site said after discussions with more than 20 current and former employees. There are a number of factions in the team that have different ideas about future direction. This is reported to have caused low morale and fuelled moves to rivals including Meta.
The site didn’t get any comments from Microsoft and Samsung.
What We Think
Microsoft has got a lot of things going on at the moment with a number doing well, including its Azure business, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a drop in focus on Hololens. As we wrote a few weeks ago, Samsung has also been out of MR for a couple of years. (BR)
