Meta recently announced its high-end mixed reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, and in doing so, the company will eventually be competing with Apple and its upcoming AR headset. Mark Zuckerberg recently took the opportunity to undermine its future competitor’s product, implying that it would be expensive.
Meta Quest Pro Costs $1,500, With Rumors Claiming That Apple’s AR Headset Could Be Available in the Same Range, or Even Higher
Speaking to Stratechery’s Ben Thompson in a podcast interview, Zuckerberg was quick to point out that Apple likes to make money off its customers by building hardware and that what he is trying to do is completely different.
“It’s typically people build hardware and they try to make a profit off of it, where if you’re Apple, you build hardware and you charge as much as you can for it.
I do think that having someone come into the space and basically say, We’re going to build the best hardware in the space and we’re going to basically sell it at a break-even point and in some cases.”
Zuckerberg does forget that the Meta Quest Pro is priced at $1,500, which is incredibly expensive, but according to previous rumors, Apple’s AR headset is said to be priced in the $2,000-$2,500 range. However, Meta has plans to introduce more affordable versions of mixed reality headsets, which will likely ship with a few compromises, but they are said to be significantly affordable, with the upcoming Quest 3 said to be priced between $300 and $500 range.
Apple too, is said to have future models being prepped at different pricing brackets, but it is unclear what price those models will be sold at. Apple’s strength where its AR headset is concerned is the company’s software integration with other products, and that advantage alone will grant it leverage to charge customers a higher price, though it can also mean that the AR headset will be a niche product for many consumers.
Is Mark Zuckerberg right in criticizing Apple’s business practices?
News Source: Business Insider
