Meta's Metaverse division reports a Q1 loss of $2.9 billion, plans to launch high-end VR device "Project Cambria" by year-end, aiming to replace laptops.

Meta (formerly Facebook) released its first-quarter financial report, with its Metaverse division Reality Labs seeing revenue growth of over 30% year-on-year, but losses also increasing by nearly 40% to $2.9 billion. Founder Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged the high development costs of virtual reality applications and emphasized that the company will focus on generating sufficient revenue through a series of related applications in the coming years.

According to the financial report for the first quarter, the data is as follows in USD:

• Revenue: $27.908 billion, lower than analyst expectations by -1.11%, a year-on-year increase of 7%.
• Net income: $7.46 billion, lower than analyst expectations by -4.05%, a year-on-year increase of 21%.
• Earnings per share (EPS): $2.72, higher than analyst expectations by 8.21%, a year-on-year increase of 18%.

Last October, Meta announced that starting from the fourth quarter, the Metaverse will be presented in two forms: "Family of Apps" and "Reality Labs" in financial reports, further separating software and hardware businesses. The data is as follows in USD:

• Advertising revenue: $26.99 billion, a 6% year-on-year increase.
• Family of Apps: Revenue of $11.4 billion, a -13% year-on-year decrease.
• Reality Labs: Revenue loss of $2.96 billion, a 62% year-on-year increase.

Meta's CFO, Dave Wehner, stated that the first-quarter expenses were $19.3 billion, and Meta expects annual expenses to be lower than the expected $95 billion, with the increase in expenses coming from the App department and the Metaverse department, Reality Labs.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg mentioned on his personal Facebook:

I believe that over time, we can return to higher revenue growth. We are making significant investments in Reality Labs to build the next generation platform. I realize that the development cost is quite high, and it is something that has never been developed before, which is a new paradigm for social platforms. Our next goal is to profit from the "Family of Apps" and provide funding for Reality Labs. This may not happen in 2022, but this is our expectation and long-term goal.

Zuckerberg revealed that by the end of the year, they will launch a high-end VR device under the codename "Project Cambria," which will focus more on office applications and may eventually replace laptops or other work devices, seamlessly integrating the virtual and physical worlds.