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at the meta connect 2024 held not long ago, the ar glasses orion, which is claimed to be "probably the most advanced product we humans have ever created", is undoubtedly the hardware that attracts the most attention. but compared to future-oriented concept products, the vr headset quest 3s that appeared on the same stage this time may be the "king bomb" of meta. its price is only us$299.99, and it almost makes meta want to copy quest 2. the idea of ​​succeeding and pushing it to new heights is written on his face.

at the same time, the high-end headset quest pro, launched at meta connect in 2022, also announced the discontinuation of production at the same time. the quest pro, which sold for $1,499, ended its life after only two years on the market. the new quest 3s is not only $200 cheaper than the quest 3 released in the same period last year, but the configuration has not shrunk. in this round and round, meta has obviously chosen the direction of its vr strategy in the previous trial and error, so that more people can use it.

when faced with apple's vision pro a year ago, zuckerberg said, "this is not what i want." now it seems that it is not sour grapes, but he does think that compared to making vr products accessible and affordable to everyone, apple's creation of vision pro regardless of cost is a detour.in other words, in a vr market that is not yet mature, or has low public acceptance, meta believes that volume is the only way to mature it.

so the question becomes, why can’t vision pro become the first-generation iphone and open the singularity explosion moment of xr (extended reality)?in fact, when apple entered the xr track, it chose the already proven skimming pricing strategy, which is to set higher prices for early products and sell the products first to developers who are willing to pay more for new technologies to bring new experiences. investors and geeks, and then hope that the relevant technology will mature and make the price more affordable, thus attracting a wider customer base.

when apple first started selling apple-i and apple-ii, they also used skimming pricing. but the reason why this strategy failed on vision pro is actually very simple, because certain conditions must be met to adopt this pricing method, that is, the product has unique functions and sufficient demand from target consumers, but now the vr/ar field is just right. it is in a state of insufficient demand.

they are also emerging consumer electronics products and are also considered to be the hardware that carries the next generation of the internet, including xr devices such as vr headsets and ar glasses. why can't they be considered on the same level as smartphones?the answer is that there were no competitors to smartphones back then, but today there are vr headsets and ar glasses.

at that time, smartphones had the dual attributes of a new generation of computing terminals and mobile communication devices. compared with feature phones, they had infinite possibilities, and at the same time they were more portable than computers. while ensuring communication capabilities, it also obtains rich functions with the support of a large number of apps. this is the reason why smartphones have become popular all over the world. on the other hand, vr headsets and ar glasses, their current product forms can only be called general computing devices, and they have not much connection with mobile for the time being.

even orian, which meta calls the ultimate form of ar glasses, has a computing body that provides computing power, and it is not yet possible for users to leave their smartphones at home and wear them when going out. in other words, current vr/ar devices lack portability and need to compete with computers. however, the ultra-high penetration rate of computers means that in the eyes of consumers, there is no reason to buy vr/ar equipment, so it is more like an advanced consumer product.

after all, better visual immersion is not a rigid need for most people, but the ability to stay in touch with others anytime, anywhere is a rigid need for the public in the information age.this is why, after taking into account the impact of inflation, the price of $499 when the first-generation iphone was released in 2007 was equivalent to $715 today, but it could not prevent this product from becoming a hit once it came out.

in a situation where computers are used in fixed scenarios and smartphones are used in mobile scenarios, why do consumers now spend us$3,499 to buy vision pro? apple's original strategy may have been to push vision pro to developers first to make it popular at this level, first to build a basic application ecosystem, and then to attract ordinary consumers to buy it. although the approach of attracting investment first and then opening business cannot be said to be wrong, apple clearly underestimated the enthusiasm of third-party developers for a new ecosystem, especially when microsoft windows phone serves as a warning.

meta’s strategy is now completely different from apple’s. after years of exploration, the former has clearly realized that vr headsets are not a necessity for most consumers.for example, the low price of us$299 is the key to why quest 2, which was launched four years ago, became popular around the world. later, after the price of quest 2 increased by us$100 in 2022, according to a questionnaire survey by overseas media, less than 20% of consumers are willing to continue buying quest 2.

us$299 is undoubtedly a very clever pricing. it is exactly one-tenth of the median monthly salary of americans of us$3,000. as a product with outstanding advanced attributes, it does not make consumers feel that it is so expensive that it will bleed their wallets. . but looking at the $3,499 vision pro, which requires american consumers to spend a month’s salary on a “big toy,” i’m afraid most people will think twice before buying it.

buying quest 3s will not make consumers feel distressed, and it is equipped with qualcomm snapdragon xr2 gen 2, 8gb memory, touch plus controller, eye and hand motion capture technology, and 2.5 hours of battery life, ensuring that users will be happy once they get it. you can immediately experience thousands of applications on meta horizon os. therefore, in meta's current view, it is obviously more meaningful to let more people experience the charm of vr first than to launch a product with explosive hardware specifications.

it can only be said that meta is worthy of being a technology giant that started with social networks. it can be said that meta is already familiar with the classic operation of cultivating the market first and then attracting users in the internet industry.