Samsung Electronics is developing high-performance semiconductors for next-generation Extended Reality (XR) devices, aiming to compete with Apple's Vision Pro, which uses in-house chips.
According to industry sources cited by The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung is actively developing an XR-specific chip at its System-on-Chip (SoC) Architecture Lab in the Samsung Research America (SRA) Center. The company is also aggressively recruiting IC design experts. The XR chip development is overseen by the Mobile eXperience (MX) division, led by Neeraj Parikh, a chip expert Samsung hired from Intel in 2023.
Currently, Samsung has a technical alliance with Qualcomm and plans to use Qualcomm chips in its first XR device. However, this in-house developed XR chip is expected to be used in subsequent new products, highlighting Samsung's commitment to its XR business. Research firm MarketsandMarkets predicts that the global XR market will grow from US$40.1 billion in 2023 to US$111.5 billion by 2028.
Industry insiders point out that Samsung believes it needs its own chip capable of handling complex computations to compete with rivals like Apple and Meta. This is why the company is investing in XR chip development.
Apple's mixed reality (MR) headset, the Vision Pro, features its own M2 application processor (AP) and R1 chip. Meta's Aria smart glasses project uses a custom AP made with TSMC's 4nm process.
As artificial intelligence (AI) models become more powerful, the demand for XR devices is expected to grow. Semiconductor industry sources note that although Apple's Vision Pro has underperformed and LG Electronics is adjusting its development pace, this also means that now is the time to widen the technology gap to secure future dominance in the XR market.
In this context, Samsung's blueprint for developing its XR business is becoming clearer. MX division president TM Roh surprised the industry on July 10, 2024, by announcing that Samsung will launch an XR platform within the year. There are also rumors that Samsung is planning to significantly adjust the design of its next-generation Galaxy S25 series to reflect XR performance and aims to launch smart glasses in 2026 that break away from existing XR devices.
Analysts suggest that to create XR devices that are lightweight and can avoid motion sickness, it is more crucial to develop in-house chips rather than rely on specific semiconductor partners. Samsung's MX division seems to be closely monitoring competitors' moves to ensure the success of its XR-specific semiconductors.
It is also reported that while Samsung's Device Solutions (DS) division's System LSI business unit is not involved in XR chip development, it is working on new chip designs to meet the demands of new mobile devices. In addition to the MACH-1 AI inference chip unveiled in March 2024, there are also plans to develop an on-device AI chip called MACH Edge. However, it has not yet been decided whether this chip will be used in mobile or automotive applications.
