Meta is going ahead with metaverse plans despite Reality Labs losing billions – Times of India

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the Facebook-parent company will launch the next-generation consumer headset “later this year” and it will feature better mixed reality (MR) technology. The development comes as Meta announced that its Reality Labs division lost $13.7 billion on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) in 2022.
“Later this year, we’re going to launch our next-generation consumer headset, which will feature Meta Reality as well, and I expect that this is going to establish this technology as the baseline for all headsets going forward, and eventually of course for augmented reality (AR) glasses as well,” Zuckerberg said in the company’s latest earnings release.

The top executive also said that the Meta Reality ecosystem is relatively new, but it’s going to grow a lot in the next few years, adding that there are now more than 200 applications on the company’s VR devices that have made more than $1 million in revenue.
Meta’s Reality Labs lost $13.7 billion in 2022
The company said that Reality Labs, its unit that produces VR and AR hardware and software, lost $13.7 billion in operating losses in 2022. The losses are more than the $10.2 billion it lost in 2021.

Companies Meta bought in 2022
The Facebook-parent company earlier this week received the green signal from a US court to complete its purchase of virtual reality startup Within Unlimited. The deal was blocked by the US FTC alleging that with the acquisition, Meta would unlawfully monopolise the VR industry.
In January, Meta acquired Gary Sharp Innovations, a Colorado-based optics startup to help it build better VR headsets as well as AR glasses. In December, the Facebook-parent acquired Luxexcel, a company that makes 3D-printing prescription lenses for smart glasses. In June 2022, it bought BigBox VR, the maker of Population: One and in April, it completed the purchase of Downpour Interactive, the studio behind the VR game Onward.