infotech

Google Acquires A Portion Of HTC's XR Business

This week, Google officially acquired a portion of the extended reality (XR) business from Taiwanese technology company HTC for $250 million (approximately IDR 4 trillion). This acquisition marks Google's second-largest business move involving HTC, following the complete acquisition of HTC's smartphone division in 2017 for $1.1 billion (around IDR 17.8 trillion). According to an official announcement on Google's blog, this acquisition allows Google to integrate and recruit several HTC engineers who specialize in the Vive series of virtual reality (VR) headsets.  

The exact number of HTC employees involved in this acquisition has not been disclosed. However, the individuals brought on board will be instrumental in accelerating the development of the Android XR platform. "The HTC employees we are acquiring have an excellent track record in the VR industry, and we look forward to collaborating with them to enhance the Android XR platform for various VR headset and glasses ecosystems," stated Google. 

In addition to the personnel, this acquisition enables Google to utilize certain HTC technologies that are already patented (IP) on a non-exclusive basis. This means that HTC retains full rights to the use and development of its technologies. Furthermore, this acquisition paves the way for potential collaboration between Google and HTC in the XR industry in the future, possibly leading to the introduction of VR headsets operating on the Android XR operating system.  

The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2025, pending local regulatory adjustments, as summarized by KompasTekno from 9to5Google on Friday, January 24, 2025. 

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Tag: Google