Mark Zuckerberg Cuts Quest VR Headset Prices Due to Weak Sales

Meta Platforms has slashed the prices of its VR headsets in hopes of stimulating demand for its VR hardware as its bold bets on the metaverse have struggled to generate a lot of hype.

Its flagship Meta Quest Pro will retail for $999, down 33% from the $1,499 starting price, while the 256GB version of the Quest 2 will retail for $429 from $499, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an Instagram broadcast on Friday .

The company cited lower Quest 2 sales as the reason for a 17 percent drop in fourth-quarter revenue for its Reality Labs division, which includes offerings related to virtual reality.

The division lost $13.7 billion last year and more than $10 billion in 2021.

The meta is facing criticism from investors for pouring money into the metaverse that hasn’t delivered the expected results.

Late last year, the company launched the Quest Pro, positioning it as its most advanced VR headset yet, with the ability to further expand the user experience.

With its outward-facing cameras that capture a 3D live feed of the physical environment and enable innovations such as the ability to hang virtual paintings on a real world wall, Quest Pro was designed for designers, architects and other creative professionals.

Recently, Meta has sobered up its stance on the metaverse and focused on cost savings. The company has named 2023 the “Year of Efficiency” and is projecting billions of dollars in cost savings this year.

Although VR headsets have seen more advanced features lately, their adoption outside of the gaming community has been slow.

Last month, Tencent, the world’s largest video game publisher, shelved plans to release virtual reality hardware while it was in talks to distribute the Meta Quest product line in China.