Meta’s latest VR headset, the Quest Pro, arrived last October for $1,499, putting it out of reach for most consumers. But now the company is preparing to slash the cost by $500.
Effective March 5, the Quest Pro will be $999 for customers in the US and Canada. In addition, the company is dropping the price for the 256GB version of the Quest 2 VR headset from $499 to $429 on the same day, or only $30 more than the 128GB model.
“Our goal has always been to create hardware that’s affordable for as many people as possible to take advantage of all that VR has to offer,” the company says.
Still, the move comes after the company raised prices for both the 128GB and 256GB Quest 2 by $100 back in June, citing rising manufacturing costs. At the time, Meta said the price increases were necessary to keep its VR business sustainable when the company had been subsidizing the costs for the headset hardware.
Since then, retailers have been spotted lowering the price for Quest Pro by as much as $400, which may indicate demand for the expensive product is low. In the announcement, Meta would only say: “By lowering the price of Meta Quest Pro, we’re making our industry-leading Meta Reality technology and Infinite Display optical stack available to even more businesses and professionals around the world.”
On Twitter, IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani said "Meta's VR shipments dropped 93% YoY in 2022Q4 while Pico rose 110%. That's one of the big reasons behind these price cuts."
VR headset adoption will be key to the success of the metaverse, a virtual world in which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is investing heavily (hence the name change). But according to The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal, interest in the company's Horizon Worlds social VR app is also lacking. Meta is, therefore, looking to open it up to teen users, which does not sit well with some lawmakers.
Quest Pro price cuts, meanwhile, will roll out in Europe and Asia on March 15. Meta added: “While we aren’t lowering the price of Meta Quest 2’s 128GB SKU, a new lower price for 256GB of storage will let even more people feel the joy of fully immersive games and experiences.”