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> Net income is up a whopping 143%, from $4.4B to $11.6B Zuck finally got over his bad VR trip. He was spending current FCF on his bad adventure and it was onl

> Net income is up a whopping 143%, from $4.4B to $11.6B Zuck finally got over his bad VR trip. He was spending current FCF on his bad adventure and it was only a matter of time before someone got him to pull back. They can still do a lot in the space without dropping billions/quarter.

justapassenger 3y ago
Their VR division is still loosing billions and they guided increased loses as they invest more.
- andybak 3y ago
  > losing billions Isn't the word "spending" in this case?
SpaceManNabs 3y ago
> Zuck finally got over his bad VR trip Whether the trip was bad or not is up to debate, but what makes you think Zuckerberg is quitting on AR/VR? His recent interviews suggest anything but that.
gardenhedge 3y ago
What do people want Zuckerberg to do? Not make bets about future tech?
- rgmerk 3y ago
  Zuck has been throwing tens of billions of dollars at VR and it still hasn't gone mainstream. At what point do you decide that the market just isn't there for the product - or, at least, the market will forever be restricted to fairly serious gamers and sundry small other specialized business applications (eg architectural visualizations)?
  - yCombLinks 3y ago
    It's significantly closer to mainstream since the quest 2 than before. I never saw a VR headset on retail shelves before, and I never heard kids talking about it at all. Now both of those things happen to me occasionally.
    - rgmerk 3y ago
      Perhaps I’m getting old, but back in the day it seemed like that when a consumer product was going to be a hit, “everybody” would want it watts and all because the good parts were so compelling people would put up with the rough edges. I mean, I remember when Wolf3D was first released. Some aspects of it - the low-resolution bitmapped NPCs, for instance - were clearly stopgaps. But the over experience was so amazing you were prepared to ignore that. With virtual reality, the argument seems to be “if we just polish it a bit more it’ll be a compelling consumer product”. How many more years of polishing is it going to take?
      - faeriechangling 3y ago
        I feel the hardware is already here, it’s the lack of users and software at this point. I struggle to think of what massive hardware improvement could be needed. I still struggle to see a future where VR/AR headsets don’t have 50m users by the end of the decade. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Quest3 be a sleeper success once the wave of interest generated by Quest2 materializes in the form of new software.
      - lovecg 3y ago
        With VR I feel like it’s a bit different since fidelity is the product - unless the experience is near real life levels of realistic, there’s not much point. We’re probably a couple of generations away from that, VR will seem a disappointment until one day it’s not.
        faeriechangling 3y ago
        I think the Quest2 with its cellphone graphics utterly crushing PCvr put that argument out to pasture. 20 years from now standalone VR is still not going to be near real life levels of realistic.
- wnevets 3y ago
  > What do people want Zuckerberg to do? Not make bets about future tech? Future tech like adding legs to ugly avatars?
  - fooker 3y ago
    At some point it'll work and you'll be forced to use it. Bring too early is a problem for sure but you can't time everything.
    - manuelmoreale 3y ago
      “Forced to use it” is a bold prediction. We’re currently not forced to use anything Meta makes. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
      - fooker 3y ago
        Are you forced to use zoom? I know plenty of people who were staunchly against video calls as an alternative to meetings.
        manuelmoreale 3y ago
        Don’t even have an account on zoom. Never used it in my life.
- CamperBob2 3y ago
  VR won't happen until we have direct-to-visual cortex connectivity, just as smartphones weren't going to happen before the advent of capacitive multitouch input. It's pointless to try to make something happen before its time. No amount of money or manpower will ever be enough. The smart money waits by the river until the necessary enabling technology comes floating by, just as Jobs did.
  - charcircuit 3y ago
    Creating EM waves to activate the rods and cones in people's retina already works very well for VR.
    - CamperBob2 3y ago
      And I'm sure that after somebody spends another billion dollars or two on goofy-ass goggles, the rest of the world will catch on. This time for sure!
HDThoreaun 3y ago
Reality labs lost more this quarter than last years.
- gmerc 3y ago
  R&D is not loss. It’s spending or investment. Selling it as loss is investor activism which tends to be motivated by short term thinking and the preference to squeeze whatever you can as a profit since you can always exit your position at any time.

justapassenger 3y ago

Their VR division is still loosing billions and they guided increased loses as they invest more.

andybak 3y ago
> losing billions Isn't the word "spending" in this case?

SpaceManNabs 3y ago

> Zuck finally got over his bad VR trip Whether the trip was bad or not is up to debate, but what makes you think Zuckerberg is quitting on AR/VR? His recent interviews suggest anything but that.

gardenhedge 3y ago

What do people want Zuckerberg to do? Not make bets about future tech?

rgmerk 3y ago
Zuck has been throwing tens of billions of dollars at VR and it still hasn't gone mainstream. At what point do you decide that the market just isn't there for the product - or, at least, the market will forever be restricted to fairly serious gamers and sundry small other specialized business applications (eg architectural visualizations)?
- yCombLinks 3y ago
  It's significantly closer to mainstream since the quest 2 than before. I never saw a VR headset on retail shelves before, and I never heard kids talking about it at all. Now both of those things happen to me occasionally.
  - rgmerk 3y ago
    Perhaps I’m getting old, but back in the day it seemed like that when a consumer product was going to be a hit, “everybody” would want it watts and all because the good parts were so compelling people would put up with the rough edges. I mean, I remember when Wolf3D was first released. Some aspects of it - the low-resolution bitmapped NPCs, for instance - were clearly stopgaps. But the over experience was so amazing you were prepared to ignore that. With virtual reality, the argument seems to be “if we just polish it a bit more it’ll be a compelling consumer product”. How many more years of polishing is it going to take?
    - faeriechangling 3y ago
      I feel the hardware is already here, it’s the lack of users and software at this point. I struggle to think of what massive hardware improvement could be needed. I still struggle to see a future where VR/AR headsets don’t have 50m users by the end of the decade. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Quest3 be a sleeper success once the wave of interest generated by Quest2 materializes in the form of new software.
    - lovecg 3y ago
      With VR I feel like it’s a bit different since fidelity is the product - unless the experience is near real life levels of realistic, there’s not much point. We’re probably a couple of generations away from that, VR will seem a disappointment until one day it’s not.
      - faeriechangling 3y ago
        I think the Quest2 with its cellphone graphics utterly crushing PCvr put that argument out to pasture. 20 years from now standalone VR is still not going to be near real life levels of realistic.
wnevets 3y ago
> What do people want Zuckerberg to do? Not make bets about future tech? Future tech like adding legs to ugly avatars?
- fooker 3y ago
  At some point it'll work and you'll be forced to use it. Bring too early is a problem for sure but you can't time everything.
  - manuelmoreale 3y ago
    “Forced to use it” is a bold prediction. We’re currently not forced to use anything Meta makes. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
    - fooker 3y ago
      Are you forced to use zoom? I know plenty of people who were staunchly against video calls as an alternative to meetings.
      - manuelmoreale 3y ago
        Don’t even have an account on zoom. Never used it in my life.
CamperBob2 3y ago
VR won't happen until we have direct-to-visual cortex connectivity, just as smartphones weren't going to happen before the advent of capacitive multitouch input. It's pointless to try to make something happen before its time. No amount of money or manpower will ever be enough. The smart money waits by the river until the necessary enabling technology comes floating by, just as Jobs did.
- charcircuit 3y ago
  Creating EM waves to activate the rods and cones in people's retina already works very well for VR.
  - CamperBob2 3y ago
    And I'm sure that after somebody spends another billion dollars or two on goofy-ass goggles, the rest of the world will catch on. This time for sure!

HDThoreaun 3y ago

Reality labs lost more this quarter than last years.

gmerc 3y ago
R&D is not loss. It’s spending or investment. Selling it as loss is investor activism which tends to be motivated by short term thinking and the preference to squeeze whatever you can as a profit since you can always exit your position at any time.