Meta Platforms has signed an agreement with chip-maker Qualcomm to source custom chipsets for its Quest virtual reality (VR) devices.
Engineering and product teams of both companies will work together to produce the chips, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platforms, Qualcomm said.
The agreement shows the dependency of Meta, known as Facebook until last year, on Qualcomm’s technology even as it tries to develop custom silicon of its own for its virtual, augmented and mixed reality devices.
“Unlike mobile phones, building VR brings novel multidimensional challenges in spatial computing, cost and form factor,” Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a video message.
“We are still in the early stages of the metaverse and this sort of deep technical integration will help VR move towards being a multifunctional computing platform.”
“By partnering with Meta, we are bringing together two of the world’s metaverse leaders to revolutionize the future of computing for billions of people in the coming years,” said Cristiano Amon, president and chief executive officer, Qualcomm
Meta has been investing in technologies like pass-through goggles and augmented reality glasses as it tries to bring to life Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse, a concept involving an immersive set of digital worlds.
Meta has relied on Qualcomm’s chips for its VR devices for years, including for its latest Quest2 headset.
The chipsets produced through the collaboration will not be exclusive to Meta, but will be optimized specifically for Quest’s system specifications, Meta spokesperson Tyler Yee told Reuters.
The agreement covers only VR devices. Meta will continue working to develop some of its own silicon solutions.
