According to people familiar with the matter, Google recently acquired a five-year-old hardware company, Raxium, to promote its augmented reality hardware business. The deal is underway, with Raxium valued at as high as $1 billion.
It is understood that Raxium is a five-year-old startup, the main business is to develop micro-light-emitting diodes, that is, Micro LED, for displays used in AR and MR devices. Raxium, which has yet to launch any products, has come up with a more efficient Micro LED manufacturing technology that could reduce production costs.
Nowadays, almost everyone buys OLED display technology from Samsung, and Micro LED is expected to become the next technology key, and there is no clear winner in this market at present. Apple has been investing in Micro LED technology for some time, and acquired a Micro LED startup in 2014, Meta is working with Plessey to develop Micro LED technology, and giant Samsung is also interested in the market and is already selling Micro LED TVs.
The Information, which broke the news, said Google's acquisition of Raxium shows that it wants to further lay out the components needed to make AR devices a reality. In addition, the source added that Google is also considering more acquisitions related to AR headset components.
Google's recent wave of AR development also includes the AR operating system, which promises to reach billions of people, and the "Iris Project" AR headset. In addition, Google's hardware division has also acquired a company called North, which produces AR glasses that look just like regular glasses. It is understood that this AR headset called "Iris Project" will come out in 2024.