Meta Quest 3: Don't expect discounts anytime soon
The price of Meta Quest 3 will remain the same for the foreseeable future, says Meta's CTO.
The headset is a month and a half old. So it would be unusual for Meta to discount the device for Black Friday. That was the question a fan asked in Bosworth's most recent AMA on Instagram.
"I know you're out there shopping for deals, and I do appreciate it. But the plan is to stay the course when it comes to Quest 3. We did everything we could to get this device out at the price that it is, that's the honest truth. So the price that it's at is the price it's going to be at going forward for the foreseeable," said Bosworth.
Meta Quest 3 costs $499 for the 128GB SKU and $650 for the 512GB SKU. The VR RPG Asgard's Wrath 2, due out in December, is currently included for free.
It is not known how much Quest 3 costs to produce. One analysis of the bill of materials shows that the retail price and the production cost of the entry-level model are about the same. Meta is therefore unlikely to make a profit on hardware sales, or is even taking a loss if research and development costs are taken into account.
Meta's last-generation VR headset is currently being discounted: The Meta Quest 2 is available for $249 (128 GB) and $299 (256 GB), but may be replaced by a more powerful model at the same price next year. Read the article Should you buy Quest 2 or Quest 3 - or just wait and see?
Further statements from Meta's CTO
Bosworth made other interesting statements on the following topics:
- Smartphone mirroring in VR: Bosworth likes the idea of being able to display your smartphone screen in VR. However, Meta's hands are tied, according to the CTO: "It's really the kind of thing that Apple should allow. Android does allow phone casting from streaming, but we're not currently a target they approve of. So we are absolutely trying to talk to them about that. I think it's a great idea. It's a feature that Android devices really could differentiate themselves on. [...] It's really up to them if they approve us."
- Quest compatibility with Apple's Spatial Video: Bosworth seems to be hinting that Meta Quest could one day support the HEVC format of Apple's spatial videos (shot with iPhone 15 Pro). This would facilitate the transfer and playback of the 3D videos on Quest headsets. "There's no reason that the HEVC format couldn't be adapted to be replayed in a headset for example or another kind of spatial environment," said Bosworth.
- Simultaneous use of 2D apps (examples: YouTube, Whatsapp, Discord) and immersive apps on Quest: Bosworth says that this is being worked towards, but that Meta still has to make compromises. "We want to make sure we get to have some [compute] space because we need to keep you safe for the guardian and things like that. And so there's a real balancing act of compute and what we enable consumers to do to kind of maximize the device, get what they want from it, but also still have it be a safe and comfortable experience. So that's the balancing act that we're constantly doing, but this is definitely the vision."
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