Meta’s chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth reportedly told employees that the company is not making a second Quest Pro headset. Christian Charisius/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
Meta’s chief technology officer reportedly told employees it wasn’t making a second Quest Pro headset.
The $1,499 Quest Pro headset received poor reviews and sales, and was costly for Meta to manufacture.
However, Meta is reportedly heading into 2027 with other headsets and smart glasses.
Meta’s chief technology officer reportedly told employees the company has no plans to make a second Quest Pro headset.
Andrew “Boz” Bosworth announced Meta’s decision not to proceed with its planned second-generation Quest Pro virtual reality headset at the company’s roadmap presentation, The Verge’s Alex Heath reported in his Command Line newsletter.
The company’s $1,499 Quest Pro has received mixed to poor reviews and disappointing sales, and was costly for Meta to develop along with its other headsets. According to fourth-quarter financial results, the company’s Reality Labs division posted a loss of $13.7 billion in 2022. Meta’s Quest 2, which is cheaper than the Quest Pro, has done “pretty well,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Heath reported earlier this week that the internal meta-presentation shows the company plans to develop three more Quest headsets over the next four years, with a Quest 3 headset due later this year. The headset is expected to be thinner but more powerful and more expensive than the Quest 2.
Meta also just announced that they are reducing the price of their Quest 2 and Quest Pro devices. The Quest Pro is priced at $500, while the 256GB Quest 2, which originally cost $499.99, is cut to $429.99.
The company is also reportedly planning to further develop its AR glasses with controllers that users can wear on their wrists. Alex Himel, Meta’s vice president of AR, announced that a second generation of smart glasses, which Meta has released in collaboration with Ray-Ban’s parent company Luxottica, will be released this fall. Himel said a third generation of smart glasses will come out in 2025 with a “viewfinder” to see new text messages, scan QR codes and translate languages. Himel also confirmed that Meta is developing a smartwatch that can pair with the glasses, Heath reported.
The story goes on
Meta did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment and confirmation of the company’s future plans.
Although Zuckerberg said Meta was focused on “efficiency” during its fourth-quarter earnings call with Wall Street analysts in February, Meta’s CFO Susan Li said the company is committed to its investment in Reality Labs and will continue to incur losses division this year.
However, Zuckerberg said Reality Labs will remain subject to the company’s plans to become more efficient.
“We’re looking at the signals and learning what makes sense going forward,” Zuckerberg said. “We are constantly changing our execution. Other things like flattening out the organizational structure will impact the entire business, both in Reality Labs and Family of Apps. We want work to be more efficient.”
Meta’s costly foray into developing its virtual and augmented reality hardware is to achieve its goal of making the Metaverse the “future of the internet.”
“I think people will look back decades and talk about the importance of the work that’s been done here,” Zuckerberg said.
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