Meta reduces the cost of VR headsets

According to a source familiar with the situation, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. reduced the price of certain of its Quest virtual reality headsets, including its high-end mixed reality device, since demand was lower than expected.

The Meta Quest Pro, the firm’s headgear intended for business customers that was revealed last autumn, will cost $1,000 beginning March 5, down from $1,500, the company announced Friday. The 256-gigabyte Meta Quest 2, which was originally priced at $500, will shortly be reduced to $430.

The price is lowering so that “more people can get into VR,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on his Instagram account.

Nevertheless, the decision is partly in reaction to sluggish demand from both commercial and consumer clients, according to a person familiar with the subject who requested anonymity because they were not permitted to talk publicly about the firm.

According to the person, one of the original plans for the Quest Pro was to sell to enterprise customers interested in using the device in work settings. However, that plan hasn’t gained traction. According to the source, a shortage of suitable third-party apps also hampered sales.

According to the source, Meta has been looking into methods to package hardware and software for the Quest in order to sell it in bigger batches to business clients.

According to this source, the business has been evaluating which employment situations the technology may be beneficial for and has been engaging with organisations such as Autodesk Inc.

“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,” Gabe Paez, head of mixed reality at Autodesk, said in a statement about its discussions with Meta.

Google, located in Menlo Park, California, owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and its stock jumped 6.1% in New York trade on Friday.

This year, the stock has climbed 54%, due in large part to Zuckerberg’s emphasis on decreasing expenses and being more efficient.