(Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc slashed prices on its virtual reality headsets in hopes of fueling demand for its VR hardware as its bold bets on the metaverse have struggled to make a big impression.
The flagship Meta Quest Pro will retail for $999, down from its launch price of $1,499, and the Quest 2 256GB version for $429 from $499, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Friday in a broadcast on his social media platform Instagram. .
The company cited lower Quest 2 sales as the reason behind a 17% drop in Q4 revenue at its Reality Labs unit, which includes VR-related offerings.
The division lost $13.7 billion last year and more than $10 billion in 2021.
Meta is facing heat from investors for pouring money into metaverse which has not yielded the expected benefits.
Late last year, the company launched Quest Pro, positioning it as the most advanced VR headset with capabilities to take its use cases to the next level.
Quest Pro, with its outward facing cameras capturing a 3D live stream of the physical environment and enabling novelties such as the ability to hang virtual paintings on a real wall, was aimed at designers, architects and other creative professionals.
Meta has recently taken a more down-to-earth stance on the metaverse and focuses on cost cutting. The company declared 2023 the “Year of Efficiency” and expected billions in cuts to its spending this year.
While VR headsets have recently added more advanced capabilities, their adoption outside the gaming community has been slow.
Last month, Tencent, the world’s largest video game publisher, shelved plans to start using VR hardware while it was in talks to distribute the Meta Quest product line in China.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
