SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. cut the price of some of its Quest virtual reality headsets, including its high-end mixed reality device, in part because demand has been weaker than anticipated, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Meta Quest Pro, the company’s headset unveiled last fall aimed at corporate users, will cost US$1,000 (S$1,344) beginning March 5, down from US$1,500, the company said on Friday. The 256-gigabyte Meta Quest 2, previously listed at US$500, will soon cost US$430.
The price is dropping so that “more people can get into VR”, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg posted on his Instagram channel.
But the move is also in response to sluggish demand from both business customers and consumers, said the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorised to speak publicly about the company.
A Meta spokesman declined to comment.
While one of the original plans for the Quest Pro was to sell to enterprise customers interested in using the device in work settings, that plan hasn’t gained traction, the person said. The lack of compatible third-party apps also hindered sales, the person said.
Meta has been exploring ways to package hardware and software for the Quest for more commercial clients to sell it in larger batches, the person said. The company has been considering which workplace settings the technology could be useful for, and has been working with companies like Autodesk Inc., this person said.
“We are working closely with them to ensure that our customers have viable software and hardware solutions that meet our high standards for security, privacy, usability, and capability,” Mr Gabe Paez, head of mixed reality at Autodesk, said in a statement about its discussions with Meta.
Shares of Menlo Park, California-based Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, rose 6.1 per cent in New York trading on Friday. The stock has risen 54 per cent this year, thanks in large part to Mr Zuckerberg’s focus on cutting costs and becoming more efficient. BLOOMBERG
