Just as you thought Magic Leap was dead, the company announced today it has raised $500 million more at a valuation of $2 billion. It is also working on a second version for next year.
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During an interview with CNBC's Power Lunch, Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap, revealed the news. Johnson said that the new device would be called Magic Leap 2 (an all-day device) and that it would come with a full set of features. It appears lighter and smaller than the original headset in renders and videos. Segmented dimming will be possible on the headset to dim the background in real life to aid in augmented reality content. The new headset will have a doubled field of vision, better color quality, image quality and text legibility than the predecessor. The interview with CNBC includes a rendering of the device, two zoomed-in photos from Johnson's LinkedIn and a Magic Leap press statement.
Johnson did not reveal the price of the headset, but it was evident from the interview that this will be an enterprise-focused product. Johnson stated that surgeons, defense sector and manufacturing are the main target demographics. Johnson also wrote a blog today to celebrate her one-year anniversary with Magic Leap. In it, she stresses that the company will be focusing on the enterprise market.
Johnson stated that this investment is an important step towards advancing Magic Leap's mission to transform how we work. Johnson made the statement regarding the company's new funding round. Since joining Magic Leap 2020, my main focus has been to accelerate the company's shift to enterprise markets, strengthen our technological foundation, build a strong business across all sectors, from healthcare and manufacturing to defense to the public sector.
This is a common trend. The most popular augmented reality headsets, such as Microsofts HoloLens 2 or the appropriately named Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, are all targeted at enterprise. This is also a reverse of Magic Leaps shambolic fortunes during the pandemic. The company was in dire straits before Johnson joined. The company then fired 1,000 people as part of a massive restructuring, before miraculously raising $350 million more.
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According to reports, the Magic Leap 2 will be available in early next year. However, an early access program is currently underway.
