Rumor | Samsung's return to the VR/AR market faces Apple Vision Pro-shaped setback

There was a time when Samsung had been in the augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) hardware game with its HMD Odyssey headset, not to mention its smartphone-based Gear VR gadget. However, neither series has seen an update in years, suggesting that the OEM had lost interest in the market (particularly as the feeling may have been mutual).

However, according to new reports from the South Korean media, Samsung had been orchestrating a return to the space behind the scenes, with the mass production of new hardware to start in early 2024. However, those plans have apparently been derailed, with Apple's launch of the Vision Pro as the culprit.

Samsung may have been hoping to challenge the first-gen "spatial computer" with its next headset, according to industry sources - however, the company may have been blindsided by the full scope of the product (as hyped by Apple, at least), to the extent that work on the putative HMD Odyssey successor has been pushed back by "3 to 6 months" in order to catch up with its rival.

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