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Was Meta Quest 2 a Christmas sales hit?

Was Meta Quest 2 a Christmas sales hit?
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  • Added more data and developer feedback.

Update as of January 6, 2023:

Omdia's XR market researcher George Jijiashvili has published an interesting chart illustrating the number of downloads of the Meta Quest app between 2019 and 2022. The data comes from Sensor Tower, a market research company that measures and analyzes the popularity of smartphone apps.

The Meta-Quest app was 15 percent less downloaded on Christmas Day 2022 than it was on Christmas Day 2021. In all of 2022, the app saw 10.3 million downloads, which is 27 percent more than the previous year. The smartphone app was particularly heavily downloaded in the first half of the year, before the price increase of the Quest 2.

The data suggests that Meta's VR headset had a slightly weaker holiday season in 2022 than in 2021, but still sold better over the year than the previous year.

The Meta Quest app is required to set up the Meta Quest 2. | Image: Omdia

VR studios reported spikes in sales this holiday season as well, though nowhere near as many as a year ago. Listed below are the developers of Ultrawings 2 (launching in February 2022) and Brink Traveler (launching in September 2021).

A more accurate picture should be provided by Meta's quarterly and annual financial statements, which will be released on February 1, 2023

Original article from December 26, 2022:

It's the third Christmas for Meta Quest 2, and there are signs of good sales again this year.

As in previous years, the Meta Quest app once again climbed to the top of the US app charts over the Christmas period. The Meta Quest app is required to set up the VR headset. The fact that it was downloaded more than any other iOS and Android app on Christmas suggests numerous new Quest users.

Sales success is difficult to estimate

US retail chain Gamestop, which specializes in gaming products, listed Meta Quest 2 alongside top sellers like Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox consoles.

There were also scattered images of Quest 2 shelves being cleared out and reports of devices being sold out or hard to grab.

Now, one should not overestimate these indications. It is not possible to quantify the success of Meta Quest 2 and compare it with other products.

As usual, Meta does not give any sales figures. Only the next quarterly report in February should provide information about how well the Christmas business went for Meta compared to the two previous years.

In the past two years, a handful of VR studios reported a jump in app purchases and sales at Christmas. It will be interesting to see if this will be the case again.

Meta Quest 2 has become more expensive

A year ago, there were signs that Meta Quest 2 was selling better in its second holiday season than in the year of its launch.

It is unlikely that Meta 2022 will break records again: the price of the VR headset was surprisingly increased by 100 US dollars in August. The device now costs $399 instead of $299 in the US. For Christmas, however, the device will be offered at a reduced price of $349 and in a bundle with Beat Saber and Resident Evil 4. Meta itself expects lower sales than in the two previous years.

In Germany, Meta Quest 2 has only been sold since this December and has serious competition in Pico 4, which it doesn't have to fear in the US (yet).