Despite massive spending by tech giants, consumer interest in AR and VR headsets remains disappointingly low.
Meta has lost a staggering $60 billion on this tech over the last five years, but Mark Zuckerberg isn’t backing down. He’s still pouring money into it, and so are other big names like Apple and Microsoft.
But here’s the kicker: no one has really cracked the code yet. Sure, we might dream of a future where wearing computers on our heads is the norm, but we’re not there yet.
Whether it’s high-end gadgets like the Apple Vision Pro or cheaper options like Snap’s early Spectacles, none of these devices have caught on. Consumer interest just isn’t budging.
The tech industry keeps pushing, though, with many still convinced that this market will explode one day. A recent chart from analyst Matthew Ball shows the gap between what’s expected in sales and what’s actually happening.
Sales of AR and VR devices have been pretty flat, despite all the predictions of a boom. IDC has been optimistic, but consumer interest hasn’t followed suit. It seems like these devices are stuck at around 10 million units sold each year.
Zuckerberg’s massive losses aren’t just based on IDC’s estimates; they reflect a long-standing excitement in the industry that hasn’t translated to consumer enthusiasm.
I chatted with Jitesh Ubrani from IDC about this gap. He mentioned that expectations have become more realistic over time, especially as major players like Microsoft and Google pull back on their headset ambitions.
Zuckerberg keeps telling investors he’ll stick with AR and VR, even if it means more losses. He’s aiming to create a new computing platform that could rival phones, hoping to avoid the control of Google and Apple. If he succeeds, all that spending might pay off.
Meta is making strides, though. The Orion glasses Zuckerberg showcased last fall are impressive, and I can see their potential if they were cheaper and worked as promised.
But that’s a big “if.” It’s possible Meta won’t figure out how to produce these at scale like Apple does with its phones. Still, someone will keep insisting that the perfect headset is just around the corner.
