Microsoft HoloLens 3 Launch Scrapped, Company Reportedly Has No Clear Strategy for the Future

Last Updated on February 4, 2022 by Anu Joy

Microsoft has been putting in a lot of work on its HoloLens series. The Microsoft HoloLens and the Microsoft HoloLens 2 are available to the public and have been quite successful so far. That, however, does not appear to have encouraged the brand to launch HoloLens 3. According to latest reports, HoloLens 3 has been scrapped by Microsoft and the HoloLens team is uncertain as to what the future holds for them. It is reported that this caused some of the team members to leave the company to pursue AR (Augmented Reality) job positions at rival companies such as Meta.

HoloLens 3 Scrapped, Team Members Leaving Microsoft

According to Business Insider, HoloLens 3 has been scrapped by Microsoft and the HoloLens team is rather confused. Amid the ongoing uncertainty, the teammates are said to be leaving the company and joining rival brands.

Some HoloLens team members believe the focus should remain on hardware innovation efforts, as seen with the U.S. Army’s IVAS contract, which holds the potential to net Microsoft up to $22 billion in exchange for Microsoft’s HoloLens variants. So far, the project is yet to be completed, and has been delayed owing to Microsoft’s inability to produce a combat-ready device in time.

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Additionally, there’s a bunch of Microsoft employees who want to focus on the metaverse, something the company does not have a clear vision for and something its rivals have already started working on. The report suggests that the ongoing rift comes as a result of constant assignment and vision changes, which has demotivated the team members.

Besides the aforementioned challenges, Microsoft’s recent partnership with Samsung has also been reportedly diluting the HoloLens team’s focus. According to one source, Samsung wants Microsoft to focus on the software side and wants to handle the hardware on its own. This has not sat well with some members, as this partnership more or less marks the end of the HoloLens 3.