Facebook’s parent company Meta posted a $2.8 billion loss during Q2 2022 while earning $452 million in the same period. The company’s total income this quarter increased year-over-year (from $305 million) and the first half of 2022 outperformed the previous half “first half year”. Meta earned nearly $1.15 billion during the six-month period ending in June, last year this time around the company posted $839 million in earnings.
While the loss seems massive, it’s due to Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive investment strategy in the virtual future metaverse. Meta’s governing body believes metaverse, VR and AR will be the next big thing in the near future and they’re funding Reality Labs while not worrying about the operating costs as much.
Meta’s policy and vision for the virtual world are quite bold, and there’s a fastly growing interest and demand for metaverse, especially among mobile gamers. McKinsey & Co’s latest report suggests metaverse will reach $5 trillion value by 2030.
Considering how Reality Labs is working on a lot of technologies and products consumers are yet to see, and the business being a major investment for the future of the industry, the operating loss simply seems tolerable, despite being in billions.
Meta to raise the price of Quest 2 from $299 to $399
Having a VR device isn’t exactly a necessity to enjoy what metaverse offers, but it certainly offers a superior experience for the virtual universe. In the matter of VR headsets —a market with huge growth potential—, two companies stand out the most, but Meta takes the lead with its Oculus Quest 2 headset. The device used to be priced at $299, but Meta made an announcement midweek saying Quest 2’s price will be raised to #399 soon.
Meta works on improving its Quest VR headsets and they recently patented multiple new ideas for the device. The company wants to make its VR headsets even lighter and more user-friendly. They also plan to add new features to the device, especially to help users experience a seamless switch between the virtual world and the augmented reality world.
In the gaming world, Valve is ahead of the pack with its Index VR headset. The company’s VR device works quite well and it’s designed with gamers in mind, but it’s yet to catch up with Quest 2 in significant areas, particularly in cable management and weight areas. Having said that, A patent application by the gaming giant suggests an untethered and lighter version of the Valve Index is on its way.
