Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has criticized Apple’s new virtual reality glasses for being expensive, antisocial and not “magical”, as they were unveiled at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference this week, according to the British newspaper The Times, Friday 9 June 2023.
“The glasses cost seven times more than their Meta counterparts and now require so much power that you need a battery and a wire to use them,” Mark said in a letter to his global staff, which was leaked to The Verge.
The price of Quest devices from Meta ranges between $377 and $1,257, while the high-end Apple device will cost $ 3,500 when it is launched next year.
Meta has positioned itself as the leading developer of a virtual reality computing platform, pouring tens of billions of dollars into hardware and software. While the Apple Glasses launch event represents the first serious challenge to that strategy.
You don’t have magic solutions.
In addition, Zuckerberg said that Apple’s launch event showed “they don’t have any kind of magical solution to any constraints of the laws of physics, and all of their solutions have been explored and really thought through by our teams.”
And he added that there is a fundamental difference in the approach taken, as he explained: “I think their advertisement clearly illustrates the difference in values between us, and highlights the vision that our company presents in a way that I find very important. This is an essential part of our business, and we’ve sold tens of millions of Quest devices already.”
He then went on to say, “Most of all, our vision of metaverse and virtual existence is social at its core. It depends on people interacting in new ways, and feeling closeness through those new ways. Our device is also associated with being active and doing things. On the contrary, we will find that all “The demos they gave were of someone sitting on the couch by themselves. I mean, this might be a proper vision of the future of computing, but it’s not the vision I want.”
Meta has reportedly sold an estimated 20 million Quest devices, but has failed to convert them to mass consumption devices so far.
Mark Rapkin, Meta’s vice president of virtual reality, acknowledged that even those who purchased the hardware failed to stay engaged with it. This was mentioned in a presentation to the company’s employees recently, before the presentation was leaked to The Verge.
Analysts are optimistic
Despite the high cost of the Apple device, analysts are optimistic about the company’s prospects due to its proven track record of reinventing new computing categories.
“The exclusive focus on cost ignores the main benefit,” said Francisco Jeronimo, Vice President of Data & Analytics at IDC Europe. “A product is not designed to make long lines in stores the day it is launched. It is a product that serves as a platform for content creators to open their creativity and exploit new opportunities.” “.
According to Geronimo, other companies in the gaming and business application industry have made promises that they couldn’t fully deliver. However, Apple is now uniting the industry and delivering what only they are capable of. This is being recognized by others in the field.
