Meta Platforms Reality Labs

Investments
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  • Meta launches a subscription plan for its VR headsets.

  • The plan will give users access to two “handpicked” titles each month for $7.99 per month.

  • For the first month, users will only pay $1 per month.

Meta Platforms - InvestmentWiki.

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  • Meta Platforms has announced that Horizon Worlds will start rolling out in mobile and web in early access.

    “To start, a small number of people can now access Super Rumble through the Meta Quest app on Android, with iOS rolling out in the coming weeks,” Meta said in a blog post.

    “Early access is also available on any web browser at horizon.meta.com,” it added.

  • Meta said that they will roll out more worlds in the next few months.

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  • At Meta Connect 2023, Meta announced Quest 3 headset starting at $499, and which is 40% thinner, comes with 10x more pixels and 30% higher resolution than Quest 2 as was reported in June 1.

  • Passthrough, its most important feature enables you to see outside the headset and to stop an experience by tapping on the headset.

  • Its other features include the ability to pinpoint objects as well as reimagined controls.

  • Zuckerberg said 500 games and apps will come to Quest 3 including Xbox games which will come in December.

  • He also said that Meta Quest for business will come next month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q09j-y05Prw (from 1:06:39 to 1:16:16)

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  • At the Connect 2023, Meta also showcased the Ray-Ban smart glasses priced at $299 and are capable of livestreaming what a user is seeing in Facebook and instagram.
  • Zuckerberg said the new glasses are lighter, more comfortable, more stylished and come with Meta AI in them
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The first reviews on Quest 3 that I have gone through point to a better version than its predecessors. Here are the main pros given out from people who have tested it;

  • Sharp visuals.
  • Wide eyebox; hence giving you a wider field of view.
  • Though about 500 grams heavier than Quest 2, its design seems to distribute weight; making it lighter.
  • Controllers worked seamlessly with the headset.
  • Automatic maps distinctively showed walls.
  • Passthrough is much better than in Quest 2.

Some of the cons witnessed include;

  • The person sitting next to you is dimmer than in real life.
  • Headband strap is uncomfortable to some people.
  • A tester claimed he witnessed some lag when using Passthrough.
  • A tester claimed the headset is lobby in recognising small objects eg a table.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUbtyCljnjE

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  • According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta has strucked a preliminary deal with Tencent to sell its new lower-priced version of its VR headset in China.
  • Tencent will start selling the headset next year, following a one-year negotiations between the two companies.
  • The terms of the deal, which could still change, stipulates that Meta will take a bigger share of the headset’s sales while Tencent would take more of the content and service revenues such as software subscriptions.
  • The headset would have Tencent’s games and other apps.
  • It’s still unclear whether Tencent would have to seek approval from the Chinese government for sale of the headset.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-strikes-deal-to-return-to-china-after-14-years-9c6012a9

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  • According to data from research firm Circana, sales of VR headsets and AR glasses in the U.S declined by 40% to $664 million in 2023 (year ending November 25).
  • Ben Arnold, Circana’s consumer technology analyst, said the release of Meta’s Quest 3 headset in October helped lift the VR market during the holoday season but wasn’t enough to compensate for losses in 2023.
  • Sales of VR headsets in the U.S between October and November rose by 42% y/y to $271 million.
  • Meta declined to comment on the report.

Context

  • Circana describes itself as a consumer behavior research firm that “tracks millions of products spanning 2,000+ categories across 500,000+ stores in 20 countries”.
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Meta opens its Quest operating system to third party hardware makers such as Asus, Lenovo and Microsoft’s Xbox.

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  • Meta introduces video calling with WhatsApp and Messenger in Ray-Ban smart glasses. For instance, you can call someone to ask their opinion on a particular item.
  • It’s also rolling out Meta AI with so you can ask the glasses for information on what you are seeing.
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  • The Information reported on Thursday that Meta Platforms plan to cut Reality Labs hardware costs by 20% from 2024 to 2026, citing a former Reality Labs manager.
  • The report hasn’t been confirmed by Meta yet.
  • Bank of America estimates that the plan could lead to a $3 billion cost savings opportunity for Meta.
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Meta is shutting down an AR studio as it shifts investment to other high priority areas

Meta said it is shutting down Meta Sparks which is used to make third-party Augmented Reality (AR) effects.

“After thorough consideration, it was determined that Meta will prioritize investments in other company priorities,” Meta wrote in an accompanying post.

“With the decision to shut down the Meta Spark platform, we’re also shifting resources to the next generation of experiences, across new form factors like glasses.”

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  • Meta has abandoned its plans to build its own custom chips for use in its wearable glasses due to high investment costs, people familiar with the matter told Fortune.
  • The company has instead chosen to source these chips from third parties such as Qualcomm.
  • Meta declined to comment on the Fortune report.
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  • Meta Platforms is working on a mixed-reality device that resembles a large pair of glasses, the Information reported citing people familiar with it.
  • The project which was been codenamed Puffin is not expected to arrive until 2027.
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  • VR and AR shipments is expected to rise 41.4% y/y in 2025 to 9.47 million units boosted by affordable devices and AI, research firm IDC said.
  • According to IDC, shipments of VR and AR fell 28.1% y/y to 1.1 million units in Q2 2024 due to weak economy and high prices.
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  • Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica have extended their partnership for 10 more years.

    “I’m proud of the work we’ve done with EssilorLuxottica so far, and I’m excited about our long-term roadmap ahead. We have the opportunity to turn glasses into the next major technology platform, and make it fashionable in the process,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

  • In the press release, there was no reference of Meta taking a stake in EssilorLuxottica.

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Meta debuts Quest 3S priced at $299.99 and with the same features as Quest 3

  • At its Connect 2024 event, Meta debuted its Meta Quest 3S, a new mixed-reality headset with the same capabilities and performance as Meta Quest 3 but priced at $299.99
  • Meta also said it’s dropping the price of its 512GB Meta Quest 3 to $499.99 from $699.99.
  • They pointed out that they have optimized the features of the Quest ecosystem. For instance, they have made it more realistic and immersive by adding better spatial audio and improved Passthrough’s contrast and color.
  • They said that Meta Quest 3 remains their best Quest headset with four times the storage of the base level Quest 3S and 4K+ infinite display.
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Meta adds new AI features to its Ray-ban glasses such as voice translation and ability to remember thinks, unveiled its first AR glasses

  • Meta said it’s adding new AI features to its Ray-ban glasses to help you remember thinks such as where you packed, translate communication in real-time and provide answers on things you are seeing, e.t.c.
  • The company said they are now on top of demand for these glasses. IDC estimates that over 700,000 glasses have been shipped since the last update.
  • Meta also unveiled Orion, its first protype augmented reality (AR) glasses. Users can interact with it using hand-tracking voice and wrist-based neural interface.
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Insiders say the cost of producing working Orion prototypes runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars

  • Meta previously said that the Orion glasses will hit the market by 2027 but according to insiders, the product may never hit consumers hands or provide a return on investments-Yahoo Finance reported.
  • According to two former engineers, the goal was to build 1,000 units but only a few hundred were built and only less than twenty units actually turn on and show an image- taking the cost of producing working prototypes into hundreds of thousands.
  • CEO Zuckerberg acknowledged the challenges during Connect 2024, saying that they will focus on key changes before bringing the product to the market.
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Former employees blame Reality Labs’ poor traction on chaotic culture

  • Former Meta Reality Labs employees told Yahoo Finance that the nearly $50 billion losses incurred at the division wasn’t due to lack of innovation but instead a chaotic culture caused by frequent reorganizations and installation of top managers with no prior AR or VR experience.

    “If you’re a senior director, they forklift you into any position,” said a former executive in engineering. “You can lead an organization, set priorities, take on anything from Instagram ads to AR software design. It creates this really weird dynamic where the people in the trenches doing the work don’t have respect for the senior leaders and the senior leaders don’t really speak the language of the technology they’re building.”

  • Some employees also blamed the poor traction on Zuckerberg’s excitement.

    "Zuck gets excited. Everyone rallies around what Zuck gets excited about. Boz [Reality Labs head Andrew Bosworth] gets a budget based on Zuck’s excitement, and then we go off and try to figure out what the product looks like. Over and over and over again.”

    “He’s really big on the notion of an immersive presence across boundaries”

  • According to Yahoo Finance, majority of the employees interviewed left at their own will while some were part of the layoff.

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