Mark Zuckerberg Unveils Meta’s Newest VR Headset Days Ahead of Apple Event
Meta Quest 3 is expected this fall starting at $499
Meta META 2.84%increase; green up pointing triangle Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg introduced the latest version of the company’s virtual-reality headset, called Meta Quest 3.
The Meta Quest 3, powered by a new chip from Qualcomm, will be 40% thinner and have updated displays and resolution. Zuckerberg said in a video on social media that it is the company’s most powerful headset yet.
Meta’s new VR headset is expected to go on sale this fall and will start at $499, Zuckerberg said. The company will release additional details at its Connect conference in September, he said.
The announcement comes days ahead of Apple’s AAPL 1.30%increase; green up pointing triangle annual Worldwide Developers Conference, where it too is expected to debut a new VR headset.
Zuckerberg shifted his company to focus on immersive virtual worlds, or the metaverse, in a strategic change that led to the 2021 rebranding of Facebook as Meta. The social-media giant has spent billions of dollars on headsets, software and apps for the metaverse.
Consumer adoption of VR programs has been a challenge for Meta. Reality Labs, which makes the Meta Quest headsets, posted an operating loss of $4 billion during the first three months of the year. Other competitors like Microsoft have also struggled to get consumers to buy into VR programs.
“Building the metaverse is a long-term project, but the rationale for it remains the same and we remain committed to it,” Zuckerberg said in April.
Meta dropped the price of its Meta Quest Pro headsets in March from $1,499 to $999 in the U.S. and Canada. The Quest 2 VR headsets with 256 gigabytes fell to $429 from $499.
Meta’s new VR headset is making its debut as the company faces increasing competition from companies including TikTok parent ByteDance. ByteDance recently offered to pay developers who have made VR software for Meta to bring their apps to its own Pico headsets. Sony Group launched its PlayStation VR2 earlier this year, the second version of its VR headset.
Apple is expected to unveil a mixed-reality headset that combines augmented and virtual reality, the Journal has reported. The company is expecting slower adoption for the headset compared with hit products such as the Apple Watch or the iPhone.
Global shipments of augmented-reality and VR headsets slowed in the first quarter as demand for the headsets has cooled from highs seen at the start of the pandemic, according to International Data Corporation. Shipments for the AR and VR headset market declined by 54% during the first three months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, IDC said Thursday.
Meta controlled about 48% of the market share among AR and VR headset makers, followed by Sony’s PlayStation VR2 with 36%, according to IDC. ByteDance’s Pico had about 6% of the market.