ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has reportedly axed its upcoming virtual reality (VR) headset, it was found on Wednesday.
According to Juro Osawa of The Information, ByteDance stated that it would scrap its plans to release the Pico 5, citing that Pico 4 revenues had fallen “far short of ByteDance’s expectations.”
NEW: ByteDance is canceling the Pico 5, the next version of the virtual reality headset from its Pico subsidiary, in a major retreat from the VR market. https://t.co/mkmJPTSSVn
— Juro Osawa (@JuroOsawa) December 13, 2023
Despite this, the Beijing-based firm aims to launch an updated version of the Pico 4, without providing further details, the report added.
The news comes as the Chinese tech giant aims to develop a premium rival to the Apple Vision Pro. Osawa said the VR headset project, codenamed Swan, was “still largely experimental and conceptual.”
The article does not indicate a time to market for ByteDance’s Swan project.
Mass Layoffs at ByteDance
The Pico 5 update comes after ByteDance filed roughly 400 layoffs and reshuffled 600 employees to other departments, slashing its workforce from 1800 to 800, or a 60 percent reduction.
Pico also stopped the development of its Beat Saber rival and Ubisoft-hosted Just Dance VR game. Additional apps like Arizona Sunshine 2, YouTube VR, VRChat, and others have also been posted to the Pico Store.
Originally, the reports surfaced on Tencent Technology News that the layoffs ensued, with thousands of employees set to lose their jobs across the company’s operations.
According to Tencent Technology News’ report, the layoffs were “widespread” and “expected to affect thousands of employees.”
The company had initially targeted 20 to 30 percent of its workforce in 2023, but the most recent report from The Information revealed the numbers were much higher.
Currently, the Meta Quest 3 is leading the market in terms of sales, with the Apple Vision Pro set to release in early 2024.
