Zuckerberg launches Meta "First thing is going to be the metaverse, not Facebook"
Gadgets Meta prepares augmented reality glasses for 2024
Mark Zuckerberg is willing to bet it all on the metaverse, the idea that the future of the Internet will be built around
virtual or augmented reality experiences
.
So much so that his company is no longer called Facebook but Meta.
But there is still a long way to go to reach that moment and, in the meantime, Meta will have to tighten her belt.
For the first time, Zuckerberg has acknowledged that the company will lose "significant amounts of money" over the next
four to five years
.
Some of the losses will come from his hardware division.
Zuckerberg is creating a whole new line of virtual reality headsets and augmented reality glasses with which to experience the metaverse.
These helmets will allow you to mix the real world with the synthetic one, attend virtual meetings with an avatar or enjoy movies, games and concerts with people from all over the world.
But at the moment the technology to make this type of device is expensive.
If the price of devices is high, adoption is unlikely to grow fast.
As in any social network, the usefulness of the metaverse depends on the number of people and activities that can be carried out on it, so
accelerating adoption is the key
to making the product profitable.
At the company's annual meeting with investors, Zuckerberg explained that, to achieve this, the first devices will probably be sold
below cost price
and many of the tools to create these virtual worlds will be free.
"We want to make hardware as affordable as possible for everyone to ensure that the digital economy grows," Zuckerberg said.
Although Meta expects to be able to profit from the
sale of virtual objects
and the advertising business in these new experiences, the income will not be significant until a large number of users use them on a daily basis.
Until then, Zuckerberg's plan is
to continue making his conventional social networks, such
as Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp, profitable with new features and services.
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