Meta Refutes Claims of Outsourcing XR Headset Designs

A recent article from The Information claimed that Meta has been outsourcing some of its headset design work while also planning to move parts of its production away from China. This move reportedly comes as the company seeks to sidestep forthcoming hefty import tariffs from the US, under President-elect Donald Trump’s directive, by shifting half of its Quest headset manufacturing from China to Vietnam.

Counteracting these design claims, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, insists that their headsets will continue to be designed internally. In a statement shared on X, Bosworth expressed, “Despite rumors circulating about our design strategy, we are keeping our headset design process firmly in-house, as we have always done. Our partnership with manufacturers is ongoing, but there’s no significant change in its nature.”

Part of the report highlighted that Meta is supposedly moving additional component design tasks, like those for lenses and displays, to Goertek—a well-known Chinese original design manufacturer in the XR industry. It’s said that Meta plans to increasingly involve Goertek and other firms in developing its headsets by 2030, with a focus shifting towards its software ventures. Allegedly, this partnership model would see Meta setting goals for Goertek, who would then provide various design proposals for Meta’s consideration.

Bosworth reiterated in a follow-up post that Meta’s collaboration with Goertek will continue as it has, clarifying, “Goertek has been an excellent partner for us. As our technology matures and becomes more standardized across different models, we appreciate their role in maintaining design consistency. However, this operational method isn’t a shift from our established practices, even as we expand.”

Supporting claims from The Information, a Meta insider revealed that Goertek is already working on designing the outer casing for future iterations of Meta’s mixed reality headsets. Moreover, the manufacturer plays a growing role in developing other Meta products, such as the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

Earlier this year, Goertek invested a whopping $280 million into its Vietnamese branch, as per a filing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. This investment aims to bolster their capacity in producing consumer electronics, including VR and AR devices, alongside smartwatches and headphones.