Recently, there have been rumors circulating about a Pico shutdown, but Bytedance has denied these claims
Bytedance, the company behind TikTok, acquired Pico, a Virtual Reality Headset manufacturer, two years ago and began making substantial investments in the XR industry. Rumors have recently suggested that the company might be planning a gradual Pico shutdown.
Bytedance has made significant investments in Pico, resulting in the release of the Pico 4 headset (not available in the US). This headset at the release boasted standout features such as pancake lenses, color passthrough (although not depth-correct), increased RAM, and improved displays, all at a price point similar to that of the Quest 2. It is rumored that the affordability of the Pico 4 is achieved through substantial subsidies.
The Chinese news outlet, EqualOcean, has reported exclusive information stating that PICO will undergo a gradual shutdown and that ByteDance is abandoning its involvement in the Metaverse.
The article states (translated): “The latest news on October 20th, according to sources who spoke to EqualOcean, the head of PICO recently went to Singapore to report on their work to Zhang Yiming. The feedback received was that ByteDance will gradually abandon the PICO business. The reason for this decision is that the hardware field where PICO operates is not an area of expertise for ByteDance. Over the past few years, PICO’s performance has not met expectations, and there is no foreseeable hope for the future.“
However, this information has been denied by a representative from ByteDance (translated): “Some media reports suggested that ByteDance would gradually abandon the PICO business. In response to this, a representative from ByteDance stated that these reports are not accurate. PICO is operating as usual, and the company will continue to invest in the XR long-term.“
There is currently no indication that Pico is discontinuing their research and progress in the XR industry and there is no evidence to support rumors of a Pico shutdown. MIXED has reported that Oliver Wöhler, an Enterprise Sales Leader for Pico, mentioned, “Pico will be at AWE in Vienna shortly, where they want to announce “exciting news about their strategy for the rest of the year and into 2024”. XRDailyNews will be in attendance at this year’s AWE in Vienna, and we will cover all updates from Pico and other participating companies at the event.
