Meta Invested Billions Into Metaverse, VR Market Still Shrinking 

As per the data shared by the firm Circana with CNBC, the sales of VR headsets fell nearly by 40% to $664 Million in 2023. The Circana research firm’s data shows that there was a steep fall from last year when the sales of AR-VR devices slid 2% to $1.1 Billion.

This continuous challenge has raised the hope that Meta will show some optimistic data to increase the base of shareholders which has been important for the company’s big and risky investment.

How Much Money Meta Has Lost in AR-VR Investments?

Mark Zuckerberg said in 2021 that it would take at least a decade to reach Billions of users, but he should start showing some positive data base. To validate Zukerberg’s vision there has been no success so far.

The AR and VR sets developed by Meta’s Reality Lab units reportedly lost $3.7 Billion in the third quarter on sales of $210 Million. The lab has lost about $25 Billion since the beginning of 2022 and that’s shortly after Zuckerberg named his company.

Meta debuted the Quest 2 base model in 2020 for $200 and later the Quest 3 VR model was launched at a starting price of $499. The sales have been strong during the holiday period as compared to the year’s week sales.

What Does the Circana Report Show?

The Circana data showed that the sales of VR headsets in the U.S. were $271 Million in October and November. It is a 42% jump from the $191 Million generated during the last year.

Ben Arnold, Circana’s consumer technology analyst said Meta is presently the leader in the VR market. Sony the competitor also released the second-generation PlayStation VR2 headset earlier this year, but the market hasn’t picked up due to the device’s reliance on the PlayStation 5 video game console.

Arnold’s Vision Regarding the Rough VR Market

Arnold highlighted the market’s rough year is due to the scarcity of VR headsets that could attract users and also the dearth of breakout apps that have huge appeal among mainstream consumers.

The consumer technology analyst said the design of the VR headsets has improved over time and “the products are progressing along with a timeline that makes sense.” He added, “If there’s a challenge there, it’s how do you get great content for this hardware, how do pull some of those levers that enable a developer to put more resources into building a game or some kind of experience.”

There are high hopes for Meta’s Quest 3 to succeed in the enterprise for tasks like onboarding, marketing, and workforce training. Rolf Illenberger, the CEO of German VR startup VRdirect noted that the device is $500 cheaper than the Quest Pro, which was released in 2022 and has the same features. It is quite challenging to convince customers to spend $500 for a VR headset unless they are early adopters and gamers. 

Rolf also shared his thoughts regarding Vision Pro and Apple VR. He said there is a perception that it is more of a lifestyle device as the demos showcase its entertainment-friendly uses, such as the ability to watch movies, etc. Apple described it as a “spatial computer” capable of mixing the physical world with digital content and visuals.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.