In context: Meta launched the Quest 2 in late 2020 at a beginning worth of $299 earlier than inexplicably deciding to hike its worth by $100 final 12 months. The Quest Professional was priced at a staggering $1,500 from day 1, making it unaffordable for most individuals. Meta has seemingly acknowledged that they have been overpriced, saying worth cuts for each items.
Meta announced vital worth cuts on its Quest Professional and Quest 2 headsets. The brand new MSRPs go into impact on Sunday, March 5. Sadly, the entry-level 128GB Meta Quest 2 stays at $400. Nevertheless, the 256 GB mannequin will get its worth slashed from $500 to $430, and the Professional will value $999.99 as an alternative of $1,500.
The corporate mentioned the worth drop on the Quest 2 would assist extra folks expertise VR with out tethering a headset to their PC or recreation console. The decrease value for the Quest Professional goals to make it obtainable to extra enterprise customers.
Meta’s transfer to decrease the costs of its VR headsets comes simply over six months after the corporate hiked the 256GB Quest 2 from $400 to $500 and the 128GB from $300 to $400. At the moment, the corporate mentioned the rise was needed to assist it preserve “investing in transferring the VR trade ahead for the long run.”
The Meta Quest Professional launched final October for a whopping $1,500. Nevertheless, not like the Quest 2, it’s aimed toward professionals and companies reasonably than players. Its use case is to allow enterprise customers to visualise 3D fashions of merchandise, create digital workspaces, and collaborate with distant coworkers effectively. It is usually backward appropriate with Quest 2 apps and video games, that means clients might nonetheless use it as a high-end gaming headset.
The brand new costs ought to entice some VR fans to drag the set off and get a brand new Quest headset, which is most definitely Meta’s motivation. That mentioned, Quest 2 is routinely obtainable at respectable reductions throughout purchasing seasons, though the everlasting worth drop signifies that customers can now purchase it at an inexpensive worth all 12 months spherical.
The worth minimize on the Quest Professional just some months after its launch is a shock, however it should probably assist filter out stock earlier than Apple’s rumored XR headset debuts later this 12 months. Plus, it units a worth 66 % decrease than Cupertino’s rumored worth of $3,000.
