Metas Reality Labs Posts loss of $ 5 billion in the fourth quarter

Meta Continuing to lose billions of dollars Development of the virtual reality and augmented reality technologies needed to support the beginning meta gear.

The social media giant reported earnings in the 4th quarter Wednesday and said its reality laboratory unit recorded a $ 4.97 billion operating loss while generating $ 1.1 billion in sales. Analysts projected this device to log a $ 5.4 billion operating loss of $ 5.4 billion of $ 1.1 billion in sales.

Reality Labs is Meta’s device that makes the Quest family virtual-reality headset and Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg started its company’s VR efforts in 2014 when it acquired Starting Oculus for $ 2 billion. Since then, Zuckerberg has characterized VR and AR as central to his plans to develop the futuristic digital world known as Metaverse, which he has said represents the next major computer platform.

Wall Street has questioned Zuckerberg’s Metaverse investment. Reality Labs has collected an operating loss of more than $ 60 billion since 2020, from Meta’s revenue report for the fourth quarter.

Meta said last week that it would invest between $ 60 billion and $ 65 billion in 2025 capital costs to expand its computer infrastructure related to artificial intelligence. Zuckerberg has previously said that AI is at the heart of the company’s Metaverse efforts, including its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. Meta develops this device with France-based Essilorluxottica.

Social Media Company last year also revealed its Orion Prototype AR -Headset, which is capable of overlooking digital objects on top of a person’s real field of view.

Meta released its latest VR Headset, $ 299 Quest 3S, during its Connect event in September and threw the device as a way for people to watch movies, play games and training in VR.

Other tech companies also invest in VR and AR.

Apple Vision Pro -Headset was sold in the US in February 2024 with a starting price of $ 3,499, and in December, Google and Samsung said They worked on a VR and AR unit called Project Moohan, which will be available to buy in 2025 at a non -revealed price.