Why Is Mark Zuckerberg Optimistic About Metaverse?

Key Insights

• Mark Zuckerberg is still optimistic about the future and potential of the Metaverse.
• He says the focus is now on the next 5 to 10 years.
• 80% of Meta’s investment is targeted at its flagship social media apps

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta has again reiterated his optimism about the future of the Metaverse. He said the future would get more exciting over a “five-to-ten-year horizon.”  You would recall that one of Meta’s subsidiary apps, Facebook, has robust metaverse plans. 

Significantly, Mark Zuckerberg has spent billions of dollars on the project amidst the doubt about the potential of the ecosystem. He seemed undeterred when he replied, “someone has to build that.”  

Meta’s Metaverse Plans

During the New York Times DealBook Summit, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta had spent about $9.44 billion on virtual reality in 2022 after recording over $10 billion loss for 2021. On 26 October, Meta’s latest earnings revealed the largest-ever quarterly loss since the fourth quarter of 2020.

With this decline in investment, he seems unbothered in his resolve to continue building Meta’s virtual reality platform. 

Furthermore, Meta acknowledged the recorded loss and admitted that the Metaverse plans have come at a cost. He said part of the cost was the laying off 11,000 employees earlier this month. Additionally, he said Meta had “planned out massive investments,” including into hardware to support its Metaverse. 

Significantly, everyone believed in the potential of the Metaverse when it started gathering buzz and attention. Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged this and felt it was a lucrative venture. He said we “thought that the economy and the business were going to go in a certain direction.” He added that “obviously, it hasn’t turned out that way.” 

Furthermore,  Mark Zuckerberg has revealed the next line of action toward actualizing the full potential of its Metaverse lab. He said, “Our operational focus for the next few years will be on efficiency, discipline, and rigour.” 

How Meta Distributes Its Investment?

Significantly, Meta said its focus is on its flagship social media platforms; Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.

Zuckerberg said 80% of the company’s investments are funneled to these flagship social media platforms— and it will continue that way for “quite some time.” 

He added that investments in Reality Labs are “less than 20%. It will therefore remain that way “until the Metaverse becomes larger.”

Similarly, Meta’s CEO said of the 20% invested in Reality Labs, 40% of it goes to its Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. He added that the other “half or more” is deployed in building Normal-looking glasses that can put holograms in the world.