The debut of the Meta Platforms VR platform turned out to be better than expected
During the holiday weekend in the USA, the VR application of the media platform Meta Platforms, Inc. (FB) turned out to be the most popular in the App Store. Many consumers bought Oculus glasses and subsequently downloaded Meta for their new VR headsets. Unfortunately, there are no detailed statistics about this event yet, but high interest is positive.
In addition, the Meta virtual reality ecosystem is working well, which means that many users will continue to communicate with Oculus. Data from the Apple app store probably indicates that Oculus virtual reality glasses were one of the most popular gifts this holiday season. Most likely, we are talking about Oculus Quest 2 VR glasses, which cost about $ 300 in the US. At the same time, the glasses have their built-in mobile processor and allow you to use some applications without connecting to a PC.
Thus, Meta has the opportunity to receive a significant influx of VR users in early 2022. Currently, there are no insurmountable obstacles to the mass distribution of virtual reality. American ophthalmologists have not found a negative impact of modern VR glasses on healthy vision. Moreover, VR glasses have improved visual acuity with some disorders, such as amblyopia. In particular, IrisVision uses special VR glasses to treat eye diseases.
In general, nausea from motion sickness remains the most severe side effect for many. Still, this problem is solved with the help of virtual space design and is absent in augmented reality applications. In 2021 Meta will spend about $10 billion on VR development, and in the next few years, these costs may grow even more. The ability to pay such massive amounts of money on a metaverse project is a definite competitive advantage of Meta.
The company can sell VR glasses at a loss. Oculus glasses already occupy two—thirds of the market for autonomous (without the need to connect a smartphone) virtual reality glasses. In contrast, a year ago it was only a third. At the same time, according to IDC estimates, the average annual increase in the supply of glasses in 2025 may exceed 41%.
