The Metaverse Isn’t Dead, but It’s Making Meta Lose Money, Specifically, $50 Billion Since 2020

Meta hasn’t forgotten the Metaverse by any means. It’s just lying there in the background, waiting for the right opportunity to come along. This waiting, however, is costing a fortune.

$50 billion loss since 2020. As reported by CNBC, Meta’s Reality Labs division has been an absolute financial disaster since 2020, losing no less than $50 billion. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems absolutely convinced of his bet as he continues to invest in it.

Another $4.5 billion lost this quarter. Reality Labs has hardly any updates about new developments or projects. Still, this division continues to be a gigantic hole in Meta’s pocket. In last quarter’s results, the company indicated that Reality Labs lost another $4.48 billion.

Quest headsets and Ray-Ban Meta glasses aren't enough (for now). The division’s revenues come from selling Quest virtual reality headsets and Ray-Ban Meta glasses. However, the profits are very modest compared to the losses. In this last quarter, revenues grew 28% over the same period last year to $353 million, but this is far from enough.

EssilorLuxottica. Even though things aren’t going well, Meta isn’t only keeping the bet but appears to be ready to increase it. A few weeks ago, we learned that the company headed by Zuckerberg reportedly plans to invest $4.9 million in EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban.

What about the Metaverse? Zuckerberg and his company’s attention has clearly shifted to artificial intelligence, and there’s no news on the Metaverse project, which Meta seems have put it on the back burner. Meanwhile, “ambient computing” is gaining momentum. This concept is essentially the same idea as “spatial computing” and involves turning headsets and glasses into devices to work with and enjoy, but without the social component that the Metaverse proposes.

Waiting for Meta’s Vision Pro. The Apple Vision Pro still hasn’t taken off in the market—at least not massively—but in addition to its clear investment in the evolution of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, the company headed by Zuckerberg seems to be working on a device to compete with Apple’s headset. It could theoretically arrive in 2027, so we'll have to be patient.

This article was written by Javier Pastor and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Image | Gustavonoduz with Midjourney

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