Meta and Qualcomm Partner on Custom VR Chips

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has entered into an agreement with semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ: QCOM) on custom chips. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Qualcomm CEO Christen Amon announced the partnership during a press conference at Berlin’s IFA show. The “multi-year broad strategic agreement” involved the combination of Qualcomm and Meta Platforms’ products and engineering teams. The duo will work together to manufacture next-generation Snapdragon XR chipsets.

Meta Partners with Qualcomm to Build Custom Chips for Next Generation VR

According to Zuckerberg, the chips developed in partnership with Qualcomm will be directed toward the tech company’s Quest products. A source confirmed that the collaboration will birth multiple “generations of VR devices and technology powered by custom VR chipsets.” That implies that the next VR headsets by Meta will feature Qualcomm chips. Meta’s Quest 2 includes a variant of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 smartphone chip, XR2. Since the XR2 was initially shipped in early 2023, there has not been a new XR chip. Another source revealed that the chipset produced under the Meta and Qualcomm relationship would not be exclusive to Meta. However, according to Meta spokesperson Tyler Yee, its optimization will focus on Quest’s system specifications.

In addition, Yee told Reuters that the deal specifically covers only virtual reality devices. He noted that Meta would continue to work towards developing its own novel silicon solutions. The spokesperson continued:

“There could be situations where we use off-the-shelf silicon or work with industry partners on customizations, while also exploring our own novel silicon solutions. There could be scenarios where we use both partner and custom solutions in the same product. It is all about doing what is needed to create the best metaverse experiences possible.”

Although news of Meta’s VR and AR has been all around for some time, Qualcomm emphasized that it is only focusing on AR glasses.

Meta and Qualcomm’s Stocks

After closing up 2.43%, Meta Platforms is currently down 0.46% to $164.61. The company has not recorded any gains in the past year. Shedding almost 56% in the last twelve months, Meta Platforms stock has declined another 50.84% since January. Also, it has lost 16.85% in the last three months and plunged 3.05% over the past month. In the last five days, Meta has dropped by 2.03%.

Similarly, Qualcomm has been down for the last year. The semiconductor company has declined 10.47% in a year and lost nearly 29% since the year began. Qualcomm stock has also plunged by 11.14% in the last three months and another 13.97% over the past month. In the last five days, QCOM has shed 11.17%.