Right now Mark Zuckerberg has a new Achilles heel. Its name is none other than Reality Labs, the division of Meta manufacturer of AR glasses, mixed reality headsets and devices dedicated to Portal video calls. How does it taint the most beautiful success story on the web? It causes it indeed colossal losses: in 2022 alone, Reality Labs lost 13.72 billion dollars.
Reality Labs, a thorn in Meta’s side?
Did Mark Zuckerberg shake things up by changing Facebook to Meta in October 2021? In any case, his dream of becoming the number one of the metaverse seems far from realized. Already with the Horizon Worlds app, Meta has very little reason to gloat.
In a article published on Wednesday 1er February, CNBC reported on the abysmal record at one of the companies revolving around planet Meta. This is Reality Labs, the branch supposed to develop the company’s virtual reality projects, whose losses in the fourth quarter of 2022 amounted to 4.28 billion dollars.
By adding up the losses of Reality Labs throughout the year 2022, the aforementioned media was able to release the sum of 13.72 billion dollars.
As a reminder, Reality Labs was able to make $727 million in the fourth quarter. And in 2022, its revenue was estimated at $2.16 billion. To say that this company recorded revenues amounting to 2.27 billion dollars during 2021.
Decline in sales of VR headsets in the United States
This drop in sales is estimated at 2% for the year 2022, if we compare with the figures for 2021.
What are the reasons for this drop? Meta’s decision to increase the price of its Quest 2 VR headset by $100, among other things. Its Quest Pro VR headset is sold at an exorbitant price, $1,500. Companies, which are the main targets for this technological toy, would perhaps not have rushed to have it.
Inflation, against which the FED continues to raise interest rates, must also have something to do with it.
However, Meta seems confident about the future of his “black sheep”. ” Beyond 2023, we plan to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of long-term overall company operating income growth. “. Otherwise, Meta would do well to also work on this question that torments the minds of users of the metaverse: the management of personal data.
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