Something wasn’t working. In late 2020, Magic Leap announced a major change spearheaded by incoming CEO, Peggy Johnson. “[W]hat I found was nothing was really broken,” she told the press at the time, “It just needed to have a bit more focus.”
From the outside, certainly, it seemed like typically understated Chief Executive speak. It doesn’t take a business genius to point out that things weren’t working. It wasn’t a reflection on the technology, certainly. Those who’ve managed to try Magic Leap’s mixed reality headsets have been impressed. I spent time with the product at CES this week, and it certainly feels like the future.
But the company ran afoul an issue that plagued countless others in this category – the consumer audience for a $2,300 mixed reality headset simply wasn’t there. So it did what any extremely well-funded but struggling company do...
