Despite a $100 price increase, Meta Quest 2 still offers historically cheap VR
Despite a $100 price increase, Meta Quest 2 still offers historically cheap VR
Enlarge / You might as well be just as happy if you were in Meta Quest 2!
Facebook
If there's one rule with computer and video game hardware, it's that prices always drop after launch. The Meta Quest 2 became the exception that proves the rule this week, as Meta announced an upcoming $100 price increase for the popular standalone VR headset, to $400.
The increase, which Meta blamed on "rising costs," suggests the company may be trying to rein in subsidized hardware prices that have contributed to nearly a billion dollars in losses monthly for its virtual reality division in the last quarter.
But when you look at the short history of consumer home VR headsets, the Meta Quest 2 is still a historically cheap VR entry point, even after the price hike. This is especially true when you factor in inflation and the additional hardware needed to power most other comparable helmets on the market.
$400 ain't what it used to be
Enlarge / Fig. 1: $400 is still an average nominal price for consumer VR headsets.
To see how the price of the Quest 2 has evolved, we've gathered historical price data for a variety of popular headsets that offer full "six degrees of freedom" head and hand tracking (which rules out cheaper options like the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go). We've also included the cost of all hand-tracking controllers and external tracking hardware (if applicable), so the launch-era Oculus Rift doesn't enter the picture until Oculus controllers launch. Touch to $200 months later.
Ignoring the additional cost of the hardware needed to power all those "tethered" VR headsets, the $400 Quest 2 sits right in the middle of the nominal historical price range for consumer VR. While headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive launched in 2016 at prices around $800 (with controllers included), those prices quickly dropped through 2017.
In 2018, most headsets were in the $300-$500 nominal price range, with high-end exceptions like the HTC Vive Pro and
Enlarge / You might as well be just as happy if you were in Meta Quest 2!
Facebook
If there's one rule with computer and video game hardware, it's that prices always drop after launch. The Meta Quest 2 became the exception that proves the rule this week, as Meta announced an upcoming $100 price increase for the popular standalone VR headset, to $400.
The increase, which Meta blamed on "rising costs," suggests the company may be trying to rein in subsidized hardware prices that have contributed to nearly a billion dollars in losses monthly for its virtual reality division in the last quarter.
But when you look at the short history of consumer home VR headsets, the Meta Quest 2 is still a historically cheap VR entry point, even after the price hike. This is especially true when you factor in inflation and the additional hardware needed to power most other comparable helmets on the market.
$400 ain't what it used to be
Enlarge / Fig. 1: $400 is still an average nominal price for consumer VR headsets.
To see how the price of the Quest 2 has evolved, we've gathered historical price data for a variety of popular headsets that offer full "six degrees of freedom" head and hand tracking (which rules out cheaper options like the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go). We've also included the cost of all hand-tracking controllers and external tracking hardware (if applicable), so the launch-era Oculus Rift doesn't enter the picture until Oculus controllers launch. Touch to $200 months later.
Ignoring the additional cost of the hardware needed to power all those "tethered" VR headsets, the $400 Quest 2 sits right in the middle of the nominal historical price range for consumer VR. While headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive launched in 2016 at prices around $800 (with controllers included), those prices quickly dropped through 2017.
In 2018, most headsets were in the $300-$500 nominal price range, with high-end exceptions like the HTC Vive Pro and
Enlarge / You might as well be just as happy if you were in Meta Quest 2!
Facebook
If there's one rule with computer and video game hardware, it's that prices always drop after launch. The Meta Quest 2 became the exception that proves the rule this week, as Meta announced an upcoming $100 price increase for the popular standalone VR headset, to $400.
Enlarge / Fig. 1: $400 is still an average nominal price for consumer VR headsets.
