The Meta Quest 2 is one of the market’s most popular and affordable headsets. Despite this, according to Meta’s website, it is still only officially available and supported in 23 countries. The same can be said for its upmarket cousin, the Quest Pro.
Why, you ask? Well, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has revealed all in an instalment of his regular ask me anything series on Instagram.
Myriad factors are behind Meta’s strategy for the headset’s availability, he explained, ranging from regional support to import costs.
“It’s not free to start shipping your device to every market,” he said.
“When you have hardware you have to support it, you need to have on-the-ground locally sales support, marketing support, retail partnerships, the right content, the right translations, the right content policy, the right legal frameworks…
“So there’s some overhead, and there are some markets that are too small [and] too underdeveloped, relative to the price of the device, for us to really invest at this early juncture.”
In some countries, particularly in Latin America, he added, the cost of importing the headset would ultimately make it too expensive for Meta’s target audience to afford. The Quest 2 and Quest Pro are not currently available in any Latin American country.
Aside from the logistics of getting the headset in new countries, Bosworth said that political reasons also play a part in where Meta launches products.
“How are people, how are policymakers going to react to a platform… upon which there is social activity and speech?” He said.
Quest 3 Incoming
A new member of the Quest family is set to launch this year and could arrive as soon as September
The Quest 3 will be showcased during the Meta Connect keynote speech on September 27th, based on a teasing Tweet from the Meta Quest account.
📣 Meta Quest 3. Meta Connect. Sept 27. 📣 https://t.co/Zbh3ck2Tl3#MetaQuest3 #MetaConnect2023 pic.twitter.com/giOZElkKNf
— Meta Quest (@MetaQuestVR) August 1, 2023
Some in the industry believe this keynote will mark the official launch of the Quest 3, possibly with preorders becoming available on the same day.
Notably, both the Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2 were launched at previous Meta Connect conferences.
According to Meta, the Quest 3 will launch at $499 for the 128gb headset. The equivalent Quest 2 has since been reduced to $299.99.
