Google acquiring part of HTC Vive engineering team to boost Android XR

To “accelerate” the development of Android XR, Google announced this evening that it has “signed an agreement to host part of the HTC VIVE engineering team at Google.”

In 2017, Google acquired part of HTC’s smartphone business to create the Pixel division. As a result, about 2,000 HTC employees joined Google for $1.1 billion. A similar situation is repeated.

Google says about the new team:

They are an incredibly strong technical team with a proven track record in VR, and we look forward to working with them to accelerate the development of the Android XR platform across the headsets and glasses ecosystem.

According to HTC, Google will pay US$250 million in cash for this lease. This is “subject to customary closing conditions.” In addition to software developers, Google will “receive a non-exclusive license to the intellectual property (IP) of HTC XR.” Additionally, “HTC and Google will explore future collaboration opportunities.”

To be clear, HTC is not selling its Vive business and will continue to develop:

This agreement strengthens HTC’s strategy to further develop the XR ecosystem, providing a more streamlined, platform-focused product portfolio, greater operational efficiency and financial flexibility. HTC’s commitment to delivering innovative VIVE XR solutions such as VIVE Focus Vision remains unchanged, while existing product lines will be supported and developed without interruption.

— HTC Press Release

Google is just hiring, especially those working on software, since Android XR is an operating system-centric company with hardware coming from OEM partners like Samsung.

This deal will expand Google’s presence in Taiwan. With its many offices, the country is Google’s largest hardware development center outside the United States.

Update…