April 29, 2019 – Magic Leap has announced that it has entered into a partnership with NTT DOCOMO, INC., Japan’s largest mobile operator. DOCOMO will be the exclusive telecommunications partner of Magic Leap in Japan. The partnership will combine DOCOMO’s planned 5G infrastructure and Magic Leap’s spatial computing, to deliver the next computing platform to DOCOMO customers.
The partnership is part of an expansion of Magic Leap’s telecommunications partner strategy, which has been designed to grow the global footprint of the company’s spatial computing technology, and includes a USD $280 million investment in Magic Leap. The partnership also furthers the realization of the ‘Magicverse’, which Magic Leap describes as being “an emergent system of systems bridging the physical and digital worlds in a persistent manner that will eventually scale to be global in reach.”
Utilizing Magic Leap’s devices and DOCOMO’s network, Magic Leap expects the partnership will help create the future of immersive media content and experiences in Japan. The two companies will also work together to create an immersive media platform utilizing the next generation of Magic Leap devices and DOCOMO’s 5G network.
“DOCOMO is proud to offer new value-added services never experienced before to our customers and partners through our partnership with Magic Leap,” said NTT DOCOMO President and Chief Executive Officer Kazuhiro Yoshizawa. “DOCOMO aims to co-create advanced MR services and expand the XR market by leveraging open innovation and combining innovative technologies such as Spatial Computing provided by Magic Leap with DOCOMO’s assets including our 5G network and 70 million membership base.”
In addition to commercializing relevant consumer and enterprise use cases and creating spatial computing content and services, Magic Leap and DOCOMO will work collaboratively to customize Magic Leap’s software operating system for the Japanese market.
“The partnership between Magic Leap and DOCOMO combines the power of spatial computing with Japan’s premier mobile operator to deliver radical innovation to co-presence, communications, commerce, productivity, sports, media and entertainment,” said Rony Abovitz, Magic Leap’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “As DOCOMO advances the power of its network and technology for tens of millions of customers, its partnership with Magic Leap will help deliver capabilities and experiences never thought possible.”
Image credit: Magic Leap
About the author
Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.