What that you must know
- Meta reported document quarterly and annual income, topping $59.89 billion in This fall 2025 and $200.97 billion for the total yr, representing 22% This fall and 24% YoY progress.
- Meta’s household of apps was utilized by 3.58 billion individuals on common every day in December, a rise of seven% year-over-year.
- Actuality Labs posted certainly one of its largest quarters ever, pushed by sturdy gross sales of Meta Quest 3S and Meta AI glasses.
Zuckerberg additionally highlighted the success of AI glasses. “We expect our glasses are among the fastest-growing shopper electronics in historical past.” Meta is predicted to double or triple sensible glasses manufacturing in 2026 to capitalize on its success and guarantee it stays the market chief, whilst we anticipate Google and Samsung to make massive pushes into the market.
Because of this, Zuckerberg famous that Actuality Labs is directing its investments towards sensible glasses and wearables “whereas specializing in making Horizon an enormous success on cell going ahead, and making VR a worthwhile ecosystem over the approaching years.”
Meta laid off 10% of its Actuality Labs workforce final week, together with most of its in-house recreation improvement studios, with the corporate’s CTO explaining that it is not executed with VR by any means; it is simply shifting its technique.
Maybe most surprisingly, Meta famous that Actuality Labs’ “losses” in 2026 will stay at 2025 ranges. The corporate will proceed to put money into AI infrastructure, estimating it should spend between $162 and $169 billion on infrastructure and improvement in 2026.
Android Central’s Take
Seems, VR wasn’t the rationale Meta’s Actuality Labs division spent a lot cash each quarter. Buyers and VR naysayers have highlighted that Meta is “losing billions on the Metaverse” since 2020, however after making substantial cuts to the corporate’s VR technique on the finish of This fall 2025, Meta says Actuality Labs spending will nonetheless hover round $20 billion in 2026.
What Meta is spending all this cash on is anybody’s finest guess. R&D is not low-cost, to make sure, and sustaining funding and infrastructure for a whole gaming ecosystem with thousands and thousands of avid gamers can be dear, however the firm has at all times been secretive about precisely what it spends this cash on and the way environment friendly Actuality Labs is. If something, these strikes and feedback make Actuality Labs even murkier than it already is.
With the large cuts made to Meta’s VR studios in mid-January, the corporate eroded any goodwill it had left amongst many outspoken recreation builders and customers. Provided that these modifications aren’t even transferring the needle on Actuality Labs’ spending, it makes us marvel how clever it was for Meta to drag again so harshly and all of the sudden.
