Thomas Alsop
Research expert covering the global hardware industry
Meta Quest - statistics & facts
In the extended reality (XR) realm, Meta stands as a prominent player. With its Meta Quest series of immersive headsets, Meta has sought to pioneer the XR industry, maintaining a dominant market position in the process. The company’s Quest lineup of devices, aimed in the most part toward virtual reality (VR), includes options for various budgets and needs. As the XR market makes the shift towards mixed and augmented reality (AR) applications, Meta has shown a willingness to compete, aiming to shape the future of immersive experiences.
Meta Quest devices support creativity and collaboration, as well as entertainment applications
In September 2024, Meta introduced Quest 3S, a more affordable version of Meta Quest 3, the company’s popular VR headset. With each new product release, the company has looked to provide users with devices that offer a higher resolution, stronger performance, and a slimmer, more comfortable design. Meta Quest 3S and Quest 3 form part of a product lineup that also includes Meta Quest Pro, the company’s top-of-the-range XR headset. Before this, Meta headsets were branded as Oculus. The name change, carried out in 2022, was done to align the VR headset brand with the company’s focus on the metaverse.Reality Labs is the business unit covering Meta’s immersive technology developments
As part of this change, Meta also began reporting the financial results of its XR business separately under the Reality Labs segment. In 2023, Meta generated just under 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from this arm of the business, amassed from the delivery of hardware products such as Meta Quest, as well as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. However, the Reality Labs segment has faced its challenges, notably high research and development costs, coupled with the slower uptake of XR technology. As a result, the Reality Labs segment reported an operating loss of over 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, a trend that continued into 2024 with further losses.Meta’s rivalry with Apple moves into headsets
While Mark Zuckerberg has pinned his hopes on immersive experiences in the metaverse, Apple’s Tim Cook has instead pointed toward the impact spatial computing could have on the world. The first signs of this came to life with the release of Apple Vision Pro, the company’s first mixed reality headset. While Vision Pro sales have so far failed to set the world alight, what Apple’s foray into XR does show is that Meta cannot afford to stand still in an XR market that includes a range of players across both the AR and VR spheres.Shaping the future of immersion and smart eyewear
With its range of headsets, from the entry-level Quest 3S to the high-end Quest Pro, Meta hopes it can continue to ward off competition from the likes of Sony and Pico in the VR market. And, with its partnership with Ray-Ban being extended to beyond 2030, Meta has shown a clear desire to explore how its immersive expertise can also be applied to the AR and smart glasses market.
