What you could know
- A China-based provide analyst agency named Wellsenn XR estimates it prices Meta about $430 to fabricate the Meta Quest 3.
- This price doesn’t embody R&D prices or long-term assist prices, solely the price of manufacturing the elements and transport the headset.
- The Meta Quest 3 retails for $499, which means Meta probably takes a web loss on every sale.
When the Meta Quest 3 was introduced, some puzzled whether or not the $499 worth was too excessive, contemplating the Meta Quest 2 launched for $299 simply three years in the past. Provided that the Meta Quest 3 is 100% sooner and extra full-featured than the Quest 2, nevertheless, the value improve begins to make sense.
However how a lot does it truly price Meta to make one in all these headsets? Based on China-based XR analyst agency Wellsenn XR (by way of UploadVR), Meta’s whole invoice of supplies sits proper round $430 by the point it reaches retailer cabinets.
Whereas it appears like Meta makes roughly $70 on every 128GB Meta Quest 3 — and sure rather more on the $649 512GB mannequin — the truth is that this estimate would not embody the R&D prices it took to develop the headset. It additionally would not embody the price of assist, and Meta offers loads of software program assist for its headsets.
Meta Quest headsets get updates each single month. These updates embody bug fixes, new options, and optimizations that put even the greatest telephones to disgrace. All that assist prices loads, although, as Meta has to pay workers to analysis, develop, and take a look at all of those software program updates each single month.
Breaking the associated fee down a little bit additional, we will see that the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which supplies the Quest 3 such an enormous graphics improve, makes up the largest slice of the pie. This chipset, plus the cooling unit required to maintain it performing with out overheating, prices Meta roughly $151 for every headset made.
The following largest piece is the brand new “4K+ infinite show,” which is about $80, whereas the pancake lenses and the adjustable housing price roughly $53. The cameras and sensors that allow nice blended actuality content material weigh in at $41, whereas the remaining $105 stability comes from the controllers, battery, audio system, mics, plastic housing, and the containers and transport price.
All this to say that Meta virtually definitely takes a slight loss on each 128GB Quest 3 offered, whereas it probably makes a little bit of a revenue on the 512GB mannequin.
In the meantime, the identical report notes that Apple spends about $1,700 to fabricate the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. Which means it is receiving over a 100% markup with its $3,500 retail worth, so Apple makes a reasonably penny on its first XR headset.
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