2022 hadn’t started well for Meta, and is destined to close worse. The company that used to be Facebook has indeed experienced a new decline in revenue this quarter, with a 4% loss on an annual basis. The negative trend would be a direct consequence of Meta’s huge investments in Reality Labsthe division dedicated to virtual reality that will build the metaverse of Mark Zuckerberg.
Techcrunch reports that Meta’s revenue was down 4% year-over-year, for a total of $ 27.7 billion. Net income was just 4.395 billion, down from last year’s 9.194 billion.
The metaverse remains a priority in Meta’s plans
Meanwhile Reality Labs has lost well 3.672 billion dollars this quarter. Even in the first quarter, the decline was driven by huge investments in the metaverse.
“There is still a long way to go to build the next IT platform. But we are clearly doing prominent work here. This is a huge undertaking, ”Zuckerberg said during yesterday’s earnings report. “I think our work here will be of historical significance and will set the stage for a whole new way of interacting with each other and bringing technology into our lives.”
Speaking of metaverse, Zuckerberg also talked about Horizon Worlds, the new social platform in VR. “Obviously there is still a long way to go before it becomes what we imagine it to be,” said the creator of Facebook. “We have to keep working on it.”
Meanwhile, Meta is preparing to launch Meta Quest Pro, the company’s new VR headset: a further step towards the Zuckerbergian metaverse.