Meta Platforms Recorded Back-to-Back Losses in its Metaverse Unit

The cost of building the metaverse is undoubtedly a huge one, and no one can understand this better than American multinational technology giant, Meta Platforms Inc. In its latest Q2 report, the Facebook parent company said its metaverse division, Reality Labs, recorded a loss of $2.8 billion.

Reality Labs brings together a world-class team of researchers, developers, and engineers to build the future of connection within virtual and augmented reality. The Labs is a crucial part of the company that has shifted its primary focus from being a social media platform to one driving the course of the metaverse.

While Reality Labs’ core product is the Oculus headset, it is also a key player in the emerging product innovation bothering on the metaverse, all of which will be integrated at a later time. While the entire metaverse pursuit is still in its infancy, Meta Platforms has injected so much capital into development, but from the figures posted, the accompanying revenue is at a low ebb.

Besides the loss recorded in the second quarter, the metaverse division also reported a $2.9 billion loss in the first quarter of the year. Reality Labs pulled a total revenue of $452 million, down from the $695 million reported in the first quarter.

Meta Platforms Metaverse Unit Slump: Aftermath of Global Economic Meltdown

Meta changed its name from Facebook last year, and the global economic meltdown has not allowed the firm to match its business potential with sales across the board. One of the most visible expressions of its switch into the metaverse and Web3.0 world can be viewed through the strides of Facebook and Instagram in relation to their NFT integration

While Meta has reiterated that the build-up of its metaverse unit is aimed for the long term, the sales of Oculus have tapered down as the strain in the global supply chain, and the growing competition in the metaverse space has largely created a headwind for the company.

Meta Platforms has a number of patents it has filed with new products and innovations it is set to introduce in the next couple of years. While the losses it is recording at this time are unwholesome, the firm is optimistic the overall benefit in the long term will be worth it.