HoloLens 3 may never see the light of day. According to a Business Insider reportMicrosoft reportedly canceled development of the third generation of its mixed reality headset last year, instead turning to a new project in collaboration with Samsung.
So far nothing strange, companies can change strategy even abruptly, but according to the article the division that ran HoloLens would be essentially in limbowithout projects to pursue and split inside, so much so that several employees would leave Microsoft to migrate to Meta (Facebook) and other realities active in the mixed/virtual/augmented reality sector.
Microsoft responded to the article saying that remains committed to the development of HoloLens for present and future generations. “Microsoft HoloLens remains a key part of our plans for emerging categories like mixed reality and metaverse,” the company said. “We remain committed to HoloLens and its future development.”
Did Business Insider screw it up? It is not to be excluded, but the article expertly describes in detail a series of internal conflicts related to the choice to collaborate with Samsung, but not only. There would be different factions within the team, with different views on the way forward.
Some believe that Microsoft should continue to develop devices, while others think it’s best to design a software platform for the metaverse that other companies will be able to use on the model of the Windows operating system. There are also those who wonder whether Microsoft should continue to focus on creating products for the corporate environment or whether it should also develop products for the consumer world. Some argue over the fate of Microsoft’s contracts for HoloLens 2.
Tech Data will distribute HoloLens 2 in Europe
Rubén Caballero, a former Apple executive hired by Microsoft in 2020 to lead the development of HoloLens and other projects, would like to focus on the world of consumption and the metaverse. The confusion would be such that Microsoft would have lost 25 employees in 2021escaped the ranks of Halfincluding Microsoft veterans over 20 years.
We will see which route the Redmond company decides to take, although we must not forget that it has a history in the field of hardware made up of many failures and few successes. That doesn’t necessarily mean that HoloLens has to end badly, but Microsoft has repeatedly shown itself to be stronger on software and services, areas that will remain crucial for the future metaverse.
UPDATE 07-02-2022
According to Alex Kipmanresponsible for HoloLens, the voice on the cancellation of the third version of the device are unfounded. “HoloLens is doing well, and if you do a search on the internet, they said we canceled HoloLens 2 as well… last time I checked, it was released successfully,” he said. declared. wrote on Twitter.