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Microsoft has multi-billion dollar branches - Office, OS, Azure, XBox, Activision, I'm sure I've missed one. It also completely fluffed Nokia. And dodged the

Microsoft has multi-billion dollar branches - Office, OS, Azure, XBox, Activision, I'm sure I've missed one. It also completely fluffed Nokia. And dodged the bullet that is Yahoo. It's pretty resilient. FB? Like others have said, the social media FB itself is pretty weak, and like you also said - addiction, and walled garden are the locks in. It can only grow financially by (more) acquisitions.

amelius 5y ago
FB has Oculus, which could be compared to XBox (though not yet in size).
- pmontra 5y ago
  XBox is mainstream, Oculus is not. Maybe it will become mainstream too but countless products were the next best thing and faded away.
- netcan 5y ago
  It's in a different league in terms of size, at this point. Also, FB bought Oculus. It has grown since, but most of where they are is on trajectory from the purchase. Meanwhile, VR as a whole is neither a big not profitable market. The competition are also a bunch of upstart-ey businesses/divisions limited by investor generosity. Zuck makes good acquisitions, no doubt about that, but Oculus isn't an Xbox yet. Xbox, OTOH, is proof that Microsoft could enter a completely different market, compete, win and create a whole new business division. It was already a mature market.
  - md_ 5y ago
    Xbox et al is ~$17b/year in revenue. Meta's VR was ~$2bn last year. I'm shocked it's that high, but, honestly, for an early effort, that's pretty competitive. If I'm reading Microsoft's 2005 annual report right, Home & Entertainment revenue was $3bn in 2005. I still don't think VR is going to supplant console gaming, but console gaming is a big business--Xbox-level revenue would be a 15% increase in total revenue for Meta. I also don't think Zuck's stated aspirations are a +15% boost in revenue by becoming a successful competitor in the gaming market, which is why it's so easy to criticize the insanely overstated goals of the "metaverse."

amelius 5y ago

FB has Oculus, which could be compared to XBox (though not yet in size).

pmontra 5y ago
XBox is mainstream, Oculus is not. Maybe it will become mainstream too but countless products were the next best thing and faded away.
netcan 5y ago
It's in a different league in terms of size, at this point. Also, FB bought Oculus. It has grown since, but most of where they are is on trajectory from the purchase. Meanwhile, VR as a whole is neither a big not profitable market. The competition are also a bunch of upstart-ey businesses/divisions limited by investor generosity. Zuck makes good acquisitions, no doubt about that, but Oculus isn't an Xbox yet. Xbox, OTOH, is proof that Microsoft could enter a completely different market, compete, win and create a whole new business division. It was already a mature market.
- md_ 5y ago
  Xbox et al is ~$17b/year in revenue. Meta's VR was ~$2bn last year. I'm shocked it's that high, but, honestly, for an early effort, that's pretty competitive. If I'm reading Microsoft's 2005 annual report right, Home & Entertainment revenue was $3bn in 2005. I still don't think VR is going to supplant console gaming, but console gaming is a big business--Xbox-level revenue would be a 15% increase in total revenue for Meta. I also don't think Zuck's stated aspirations are a +15% boost in revenue by becoming a successful competitor in the gaming market, which is why it's so easy to criticize the insanely overstated goals of the "metaverse."