Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has just teased futuristic gear enthusiasts with the chip designer’s latest collaboration with Google and Samsung. Qualcomm is gearing up to create a set of mixed-reality glasses, controlled entirely by a smartphone. To be clear, these mixed reality glasses are not replicas of Apple’s Vision Pro headsets launched earlier this year.
Amon described the mixed reality collaboration to CNBC as a “new product” positioned to offer “new experiences.” Qualcomm first struck a partnership with Google and Samsung in 2023 to develop mixed reality technology. Mixed reality offers a blend of augmented and virtual reality, often involving digital images that are imposed over the real world in front of you. “But what I really expect to come out of this partnership is that I want everyone that has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it,” Amon added. In the announcement, Amin referenced Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses that hit the market last year. The collaboration with Ray Ban allowed Meta to develop a pair of smart glasses that were wirelessly linked to a smartphone with an in-built camera.
To capitalize on the nascent mixed reality wave, Qualcomm is actively diversifying beyond smartphone chips. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip was designed specifically for smart glasses. According to Amon, “AI is going to run on the device. It’s going to run on the cloud. It’s going to run some in the glass, some in the phone, but at the end of the day, there’s going to be whole new experiences.” The International Data Corporation expects 9.7 million VR and AR headsets to be shipped in 2024, which is distinctly lower than smartphone sales that will touch 1.23 billion in 2024 alone.
Qualcomm has kept a keen ear out for inputs from AR and VR enthusiasts. Most complaints reiterate the bulky design of existing headsets. A set of glasses could solve this, bringing a stylish device to the mixed-reality market. “I think we need to get to the point that the glasses are going to be no different than wearing regular glasses or sunglasses. And then with that, we can get scale,” Amon added.
Details of the collaboration remain sparse, but Amon did emphasize Qualcomm’s focus on product differentiation. TM Roh, the head of Samsung’s mobile division, mentioned the company would announce a new “mixed-reality platform” within the year. This is likely to be a software product, according to Roh, though he declined to elaborate at the time.
