ByteDance Denies Reports It is Shutting Down Its Pico Headset
On Tuesday, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, declared its continued commitment to the virtual reality (VR) industry over the long haul, affirming that it has no intention of discontinuing its VR business, Pico, and is committed to its sustained presence in the industry, dispelling previous reports suggesting a phased-out approach for the brand.
This announcement followed a recent report by the Chinese research firm EqualOcean, which claimed that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming had communicated to Pico’s management team his intention to progressively withdraw ByteDance’s support from the Pico business.
ByteDance refuted the report of Pico’s closure as untrue and that its virtual reality division Pico continues to operate as usual and the company remains committed to long-term investments in the extended reality (XR) business.
XR is a comprehensive term that encompasses not only VR but also various other technologies related to headsets.
The Pico headsets are frequently regarded as ByteDance’s response to Meta Platforms Inc’s popular Quest headsets. Pico holds the dominant market share for VR headsets in China, representing more than 58% of the market, given that Meta’s Quest devices have not been officially introduced in the country.
A distinct report released by the Chinese online news outlet The Paper on Tuesday indicated that ByteDance was undergoing a reassessment of Pico’s strategy. Approximately half of the unit’s workforce has reportedly departed, and several senior executives have been effectively relocated from the Pico division.
In a separate statement, ByteDance affirmed its commitment to sustaining the regular operation of the product and continuing to augment its investments in product technology, without providing further details.
Source: Reuters
https://virtualrealitytimes.com/2023/10/25/bytedance-denies-reports-it-is-shutting-down-its-pico-headset/https://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Image-shared-and-later-deleted-by-Pico-Twitter-account-600x294.pnghttps://virtualrealitytimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Image-shared-and-later-deleted-by-Pico-Twitter-account-150x90.pngBusinessOn Tuesday, ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, declared its continued commitment to the virtual reality (VR) industry over the long haul, affirming that it has no intention of discontinuing its VR business, Pico, and is committed to its sustained presence in the industry, dispelling previous reports suggesting a...Sam OchanjiSam Ochanji[email protected]SubscriberVirtual Reality Times - Metaverse & VR