Microsoft is not the only company moving into the augmented-reality hardware space.
Asus, one of the world’s largest computer-hardware manufacturers, revealed that it is building its own HoloLens-style device. This headset “should” launch next year, Asus chief executive Jerry Shen said during a conference call with investors (via CNET). This will make Asus, which most people know for its line of laptops and Nvidia-powered graphics cards, one of the first competitors in a space that analysts predict could generate $150 billion by 2020.
“It should be next year when we come out with a product,” said Shen. “We think AR will be very important for people’s lives.”
We’ve heard a lot about the promise of AR over the last year or so and mostly from Microsoft. That company has shown off the HoloLens a number of times, and it has tried to position it as a gaming platform as well as a tool that could change the way people work in nearly all fields.
At the most recent Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show earlier this year in Los Angeles, the Xbox team brought the HoloLens onto stage to show how it could change the game of Minecraft.
Check it out:
And while that Minecraft demo looks amazing — and it blew us away when we tried it — Microsoft is taking its time to move into the AR space. Satya Nadella, the company’s CEO, has said that HoloLens is at the beginning of a five-year plan.
If you want a HoloLens today, you’ll need to shell out $3,000 for the development version. That’s creating an opening for Asus and any other companies who want to try to have a first crack at the AR market.
But it’s also more complicated than that. In October, Asus chairman Jonney Shih explained that his company was talking to Microsoft about making a third-party HoloLens. The Taiwanese company already makes Windows laptops, Android tablets and smartphones, and Nvidia graphics cards — so it makes sense that it would try to put its production expertise to use on AR. But Asus is not saying that this product is the result of those discussions, and neither company is confirming those talks went anywhere at all.
We reached out to Microsoft to ask if it is working with third-party companies on HoloLens devices, and it declined the opportunity to comment.
And it’s difficult to tell where Microsoft’s head is on this. Historically, the software company has always worked with third parties on its devices, but it’s also making its biggest break from that tradition. Last month, Microsoft introduced the latest Surface Pro tablets that it makes internally. But it also revealed the first ever Surface Pro Book, a convertible laptop that makes many of its hardware partners look lazy in comparison.
But the future of AR is probably not in selling hardware. Microsoft stands to make a lot by controlling the platform and app store for any augmented-reality devices. And that could push it to let Asus using HoloLens tech and software for whatever the new product is.