Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) shares added 2% on Thursday after the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg presented the latest virtual reality (VR) headset ‘Quest 3’.
Zuckerberg said the new VR set will start at $499 and will be released later this year.
“The first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality. 40% thinner and more comfortable. Better displays and resolution. Next gen Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) chipset with 2x the graphics performance. Our most powerful headset yet,” he wrote in an Instagram post.
Meta moved quickly to present the highly-anticipated product just days before rival Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is expected to launch its VR headset.
Goldman Sachs analysts said last month that Apple's AR/VR headset can succeed where others may have not. They forecast that Apple could generate $11-20 billion in annual sales from AR/VR sales in the 2024-2028 period.
The analysts highlighted “an installed base of billions of device and services users, an established developer ecosystem for iOS/iPadOS/macOS, existing 1P content investments and apps that can be leveraged for AR/VR, a direct in-store and online sales model — which is vital for introducing consumers to a relatively new consumer product category — and ecosystem benefits."