Meta has announced lower prices for its VR goggles to boost sales and reignite interest in hardware connected to the Metaverse experience as the company's bet on VR apps struggles to deliver.
According to a Reuters report, Meta Quest Pro goggles are now $999 instead of $1,499, while Quest 2 goggles will drop from $499 to $429. Meta CEO and President Mark Zuckerberg announced the announcement via Instagram Live.
The price cuts come after revenue from the Meta Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality products, fell 17% in the fourth quarter and passed $10 billion in 2021.
Observers see the price cuts as clear evidence that Meta is struggling to gain a foothold in virtual reality technology.
Previously, the company had been criticized by investors for investing huge amounts of money in the Metaverse without getting the expected return. In response to the criticism, the company has changed its cost-cutting strategy and plans to cut billions of dollars in spending this year.
Despite recent advances in virtual reality, VR glasses are slowly gaining popularity outside of video games, in line with Meta's hopes for broader acceptance of the technology, including designers, engineers, and other professionals.
Mita's technology for the Quest Pro glasses isn't limited to gaming, as the glasses have an external camera that captures a 3D transmission of the environment in real time, enabling new applications for augmented reality.
Meta isn't the only company struggling to bring more attention to virtual reality. China's Tencent, the world's largest video game publisher, recently canceled plans to develop virtual reality hardware due to a lack of commercial viability.