Meta is slashing the prices of its VR headset | CNN Business

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Meta is slashing the prices of two of its virtual reality headsets as it continues to try to increase adoption of the nascent technology it has staked its future on.

The company announced Friday that it is dropping the price of its top-of-the-line Meta Quest Pro headphones by about $500, bringing their cost to $999, roughly six months after they were released. Meta is also dropping the price of its Quest 2 headphones from $499.99 to $429.99.

The Quest 2 price cut will take effect Sunday in more than a dozen countries, including the United States. The Quest Pro price drop will take effect the same day in the US and Canada, and March 15 in all other countries where it is sold.

“Our goal has always been to create hardware that is affordable for as many people as possible to take advantage of everything virtual reality has to offer,” the company said in a blog post.

Facebook renamed itself Meta in late 2021 as it outlined a bold vision to build a future, immersive version of the Internet called the “metaverse,” powered by VR technology. But more than a year later, his metaverse ambitions still feel distant.

The Quest 2 headphones are popular in their category, but remain a niche product overall. The Quest Pro launched with a hefty price tag aimed at business customers, making it unlikely to move the needle with everyday consumers. And Meta’s flagship social VR app, Horizon Worlds, can feel like a ghost town (albeit a laser tag ghost town).

Meta lost $13.7 billion last year on its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its VR and metaverse efforts. The company said Reality Labs revenue fell 17% in the fourth quarter compared to a year earlier due to lower sales of its Quest 2 headset.

Those losses may be more difficult for Meta to bear at a time when the company is cutting thousands of jobs and focusing on making 2023 a “year of efficiency.” But in Friday’s blog post, Meta said it is “committed to building a successful VR marketplace for developers, businesses and creators to thrive.”

“Virtual reality is a powerful social platform and creative technology, and the more people who have access to it, the better,” the company said. “Like you, we’re in this for the long haul.”