The 'Gear VR' That Became a Burden... App Support Also Discontinued

Samsung to End Gear VR Support After 'Galaxy Note10'
Oculus Browser Support to Cease from April
Some Apps Like Oculus 360 Photo Will No Longer Be Downloadable

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Samsung Electronics' mobile VR headset 'Gear VR' is being neglected. It does not support the latest smartphones such as the Galaxy Note10, and Oculus app support will also be discontinued from April.

According to IT specialized media SamMobile on the 25th (local time), application support for Gear VR, a collaboration between Samsung Electronics and Oculus, will be discontinued. Apps available for Gear VR can only be downloaded from the market within the Oculus VR app, but recently, Oculus-made apps such as Oculus 360 Photo and Oculus Video have become unavailable for download. From April 1st, Oculus browser updates will be stopped.

Gear VR is a mobile-based VR headset released in November 2014 through collaboration between Samsung Electronics and VR specialist Oculus. It started supporting from the Galaxy Note4 and released renewed Gear VR models annually from 2015 to 2019. However, starting with the Galaxy S10 series in 2019, smartphones released afterward no longer support Gear VR.

The new Gear VR unveiled by Samsung Electronics along with the Galaxy Note8.

Compared to PC-based VR headsets, Gear VR achieved sales of over 780,000 units as of 2017, thanks to its relatively affordable price and accessibility. However, recently, the VR market has faced growth stagnation due to a lack of related content and hardware improvement limitations. Samsung Electronics' interest has shifted from VR to AR (Augmented Reality), leading to the discontinuation of Gear VR support on flagship smartphones, and Oculus has also ceased VR-related software updates. Recently, Samsung Electronics equipped the Galaxy S20 camera with a ToF (Time of Flight) sensor, a depth camera, for AR functionality.

Oculus also admits it missed the timing regarding Gear VR. John Carmack, Oculus Chief Technology Officer (CTO), said at last year's Oculus Connect developer conference, "There is little time left for software support for Gear VR. We think we missed the opportunity."