Meta’s VR hardware is getting more expensive. The company announced Tuesday it's raising the prices of its Quest VR headsets by $100. This brings the price of the 128 GB version of the Quest to $399, while the 256 GB version will cost $499.
"In order to continue investing in moving the VR industry forward for the long term, we are adjusting the price of Meta Quest 2 headsets [...] starting on 8/1/22," Meta said on Twitter. The company added that it will include a free copy of its rhythm VR game Beat Saber for a limited time.
Meta is expected to introduce a more expensive headset, code-named Cambria, for enterprise and prosumer use later this year. The company is said to have shipped close to 15 million units of the Quest 2 since its introduction in 2020, according to IDC estimates, and controls roughly 90% of the VR hardware market.
Meta, like many of its competitors in the tech industry, has begun slowing and in some cases freezing hiring for certain departments. Mark Zuckerberg has also reportedly begun bracing his workforce for what the executive has described as an "intense" period of transition for the company during the economic downturn and its recent push to build the metaverse.
The result is an unprecedented pressure to reign in spending and cut costs, especially in Meta's increasingly expensive Reality Labs division. In 2021 alone, the company's AR and VR investments, including selling lower-cost headsets and R&D efforts to develop new products, cost it $10 billion, Meta reported earlier this year.
In June, the company reportedly scrapped plans to release consumer AR glasses as soon as 2024 and will now instead release a demo device to focus on a second iteration down the line. Meta also cancelled a forthcoming smartwatch and decided to reposition its Portal video chat devices as enterprise products for businesses.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE