Google to Acquire HTC's XR Unit

Google announced it will acquire a part of HTC’s extended reality unit for $250 million. This will add to a $1.1 billion purchase of a portion of the Taiwanese company’s smartphone business in 2017.

In a short announcement, Google explained it was accelerating the Android XR platform through the agreement, after investing in the technology for more than a decade. As part of the deal, an undisclosed number of HTC Vive’s engineering team will move over to Google, working with its team to expand the XR platform across the headset and glasses ecosystem. The companies stated they will also explore additional collaboration opportunities.

HTC’s VP and general counsel, Lu Chia-te, said it had granted IP rights to Google as a non-exclusive license, and it retained the ability to use it and even develop it without any restrictions. The deal, expected to close before the end of Q1, marks the second major tie-up between the companies. Google announced a deal to acquire HTC’s R&D team that developed the Pixel smartphone line eight years ago. As part of the deal, around 4,000 HTC staff joined Google.