TikTok owner ByteDance said it is committed to Pico, following reports claiming that it intends to scale back operations of its virtual reality division, Pico.

According to a report by research firm EqualOcean, ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming told Pico bosses that they should prepare to gently erase Pico into nothingness.

ByteDance later formally refuted this claim in a statement to Reuters.

"Reports that Pico is closing are untrue; Pico is operating as usual and the company will continue to invest in its extended reality (XR) business for the long term," the statement said.

Another separate report suggested that ByteDance was preparing to shake up Pico's strategy. In a separate statement, ByteDance also refuted this claim, stating that it would "continue normal operations of the product."

With both Meta and Apple focusing on XR and VR headsets, it makes sense that ByteDance would want to stick with this business. But it is tough competition, and even the company behind TikTok will have a hard time trying to keep up with the spending of these two companies. Meta often spends more than $1 billion a month on its Reality Labs division, which is primarily responsible for VR headsets such as Quest 3 and Zack's Metaverse Dream.

More than a competitor to Quest 2, Katie was impressed with ByteDance's headset in her review of the Pico 4 headset. It offers solid visuals, accurate tracking, and great color pass-through. However, they are difficult to secure in the U.S. and will continue to be a challenge for this China-based company.

Pico will continue to serve the Chinese market well. This will prove especially true if U.S.-China relations continue to be rocky on technology imports and exports. Some reports to the contrary, however, bring to mind the old adage that "where there is no fire, there is no smoke.

So far, it doesn't look like much has changed for Pico, but the broader VR market still needs to get off its butt. Even with the latest headsets hitting the market, the mass-market metaverse still seems a long way off.