JAKARTA - Meta Platforms Inc cut the price of its virtual reality headset in hopes of increasing demand for its VR hardware. This is done because it is at stake in the metaverse yet to show significant results.
Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Meta Platforms Inc, announced on a broadcast on Instagram's social media platform on Friday that Meta Quest Pro will be sold for $999, down from its launch price of $1,499. Meanwhile, Quest 2 256 GB will sell for $429 (Rp6.5 million), down from the initial price of 499 US dollars (Rp7.6 million).
The company showed Quest 2's low sales as a reason for a 17% drop in reality Labs unit revenue in the fourth quarter of last year. The revised suffered a loss of USD 13.7 billion (IDR 209.3 trillion) last year and more than USD 10 billion (IDR 152.7 trillion) in 2021.
Meta is under pressure from investors for spending a lot of money on the metaverse that hasn't come as expected.
Last year, the company launched Quest Pro as the most advanced VR headset with the ability to expand use cases.
Quest Pro, with an outward-looking camera capturing 3D live streaming from the physical environment and allowing uniqueness such as the ability to hang virtual paintings on real-world walls, aimed at designers, architects, and other creative professionals.
Recently, Meta has eased its enthusiasm for the metaverse and focused on cost savings. The company calls 2023 an "Efficiency Year" and projects billions of dollars in savings for its spending this year.
Although the VR headset has added more advanced capabilities lately, adoption outside the gaming community is still slow.
Last month, Tencent, the world's largest game publisher, discontinued its plans to try to get into VR hardware, while is in talks to distribute Meta Quest products in China.
Meanwhile, Apple's mixed reality Headsetreality (mixed reality) is rumored to be debuting at the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), which will be held in June.
The device, which may be called Reality Proini, is unofficially scheduled to launch in April, but the company needs additional development time for its hardware and software issues.
The MRset headset from the iPhone maker is rumored to be launching at this spring event and will be sold for around US$3,000 (Rp45 million).
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