Meta Invests Over $100bn in VR and Smart Glasses Gamble.
Mark Zuckerberg calls 2025 a 'defining year' after a decade of losses.
Meta’s investment in virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) is set to surpass $100 billion this year, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg declaring that 2025 will be a “defining year” for its smart glasses division.
In its latest annual report, Meta disclosed a record $19.9 billion investment in its Reality Labs division for 2024, marking the continuation of years of significant losses. The division is responsible for developing Meta’s Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and Quest VR headsets. Zuckerberg recently called the Ray-Ban glasses a “real hit” after the company sold 1 million units in 2024. However, the Quest VR headsets have faced slower adoption.
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Since 2014, when Meta acquired VR headset maker Oculus, its total spending on VR and AR development and acquisitions has exceeded $80 billion. In 2025, Meta expects its Reality Labs investment to rise further, adding another $20 billion to the total.
These staggering investments highlight Zuckerberg’s ambition to create a new computing platform that could eventually replace smartphones and reduce Meta’s reliance on Apple and Google for app distribution. Zuckerberg is also working to develop more advanced AR glasses that blend virtual content with the real world, unveiling its prototype, Orion, in September. Rivals such as Apple and Google are also working on similar devices.
Matthew Ball, a tech investor and author of The Metaverse, commented, “Meta’s investments in Reality Labs are eye-watering, yet it’s not clear if they are unreasonable if you believe it can build the business that it’s looking to be, which is replacing [Apple’s] iOS.”
