Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms has dropped the price of some of its Quest virtual reality headsets, including its high-end mixed reality device, in part because demand was weaker than expected, Bloomberg said. sources and “Al Arabiya.net” reviewed it.
For its part, the company said Friday that the “Meta Quest Pro” headset, which it unveiled last fall and aimed at business users, will retail for $1,000 starting March 5, down from $1,500. The price of the 256GB “Meta Quest 2”, previously listed at $500, will also soon be reduced to $430.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg justified the company’s recent move, saying it comes with the goal of enabling more people to enter virtual reality, according to his Instagram channel. But the move is also in response to lackluster demand from both business customers and consumers, according to Bloomberg sources.
While one of the original plans for the Quest Pro was to sell to corporate customers interested in using the device in business settings, that plan never caught on. A source said the lack of compatible third-party apps was also hampering sales.
Shares of Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, rose 6.1% in New York trading on Friday. The shares are up 54% this year, thanks in large part to Zuckerberg’s focus on cutting costs and boosting efficiency.
