Facebook’s parent company Meta reported its metaverse division Reality Labs lost US$3.7 billion in the third quarter of this year, bringing its accumulated losses in 2022 to US$9.4 billion, according to its third quarter financial report on Wednesday.

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Fast facts

  • Reality Labs is Meta’s division for manufacturing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets Quest and online platforms Horizon Worlds.
  • Reality Labs earned US$285 million in revenue in the third quarter, down from US$558 million in the third quarter of 2021. In its earnings report, Meta said it expects Reality Labs’ operating loss to continue to grow significantly in 2023.
  • Meta expects the division’s expenses to accelerate “driven by infrastructure-related expenses and, to a lesser extent, Reality Labs hardware costs driven by the launch of our next generation of our consumer Quest headset later next year,” said Meta’s CFO David Wehner in the earnings release.
  • User growth on Meta’s metaverse platform has fallen from its target. Horizon Worlds expected to have 500,000 monthly active users (MAUs) by the end of the year, but it recently reduced its MAU target to 280,000, according to leaked company documents, and Horizon Worlds currently has just 200,000 users. 
  • Meta’s revenue was down 4% from the second quarter to US$27 billion. Shares of Meta fell 5.59% on Wednesday to close at US$129.82.

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