Meta announced the price increase on Tuesday via a Twitter post. Starting Aug. 1, the 128GB version of the Quest 2 will cost $399, while the 256GB model will cost $499, Meta said. The company said it increased the price of the VR headset “to continue to invest in promoting the VR industry in the long term.” Meta added in a company blog post that “the cost to manufacture and ship our products has increased.” “By adjusting the price of Quest 2, we can continue to increase our investment in groundbreaking research and development of new products that push the VR industry to new heights,” Meta said. In the first quarter, Meta’s Reality Labs division, which includes VR headsets, reported just $215 million in revenue, compared to Facebook’s $27 billion in ad sales. Meanwhile, Reality Labs posted an operating loss of $2.96 billion. Meta is estimated to have shipped more than 10 million Quest 2 headsets in 2021, surpassing other VR headset vendors such as Sony and HTC, according to research by analyst Counterpoint. The company said the Quest 2’s relatively cheap price of $299 made it more attractive to consumers. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is pushing the company into the metaverse, a virtual world where he envisions consumers working and playing within the next decade. BEWARE: The advertising market is softening
