Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the Quest 3 on Thursday as the business prepares for Apple to disrupt the nascent mixed reality sector it has controlled.
Zuckerberg stated in an Instagram post that the $499 headset would be 40% thinner than the company’s previous headgear and feature color mixed reality (AR/VR).
Zuckerberg said the Quest 3 will have a Qualcomm chipset with twice the graphical capability. He promised more insights at the company’s AR/VR conference on Sept. 27.
Zuckerberg’s revelation comes a week before Apple’s projected mixed reality gadget launch. According to IDC, approximately 80% of the 8.8 million virtual reality headsets sold in 2022 were Meta’s. ByteDance’s Pico gadget came in second with a 10% market share.
Despite its dominance, Meta has struggled to sell its immersive “metaverse” concept of interconnected virtual worlds and expand its device market beyond gamers.
Meta reduced Quest headset pricing in March to boost demand. The Quest 2’s 256 GB version is $430, down from $500, and the high-end Meta Quest Pro costs $1,000, down from $1,500. Headset sales and Reality Labs revenue fell 50% in the most recent quarter.
