Meta's AR/VR Reality Labs division records further losses of $4.4 billion
And it expects operating losses to "increase meaningfully year-over-year"
Meta published its third quarter earnings today, and has recorded a loss of $4.4 billion in its AR/VR Reality Labs division.
This is the third reported loss of the year in this segment, with Reality Labs reporting a loss of $3.8 billion during its first quarter, and $4.5 billion in the second.
For its Reality Labs business, Meta said Q3 revenue was up 29% to $270 million, which was "driven by hardware sales."
Reality Labs expenses were also up 19% year-on-year to $4.7 billion, which Meta said was driven primarily by higher headcount-related expenses and infrastructure costs.
Meta noted that it expected Reality Labs' 2024 operating losses to "increase meaningfully year-over-year" due to ongoing product development efforts and investments to further scale its technologies.
Meta said it has reached "several milestones around Reality Labs and the integration of AI and wearables" this quarter, such as the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, but said little about its latest mixed reality headset, Quest 3S beyond CEO Mark Zuckerberg noting that the new hardware "brings the best capabilities of Quest 3."
When questioned about the on-going losses for its Reality Labs business, CFO Susan Li said: "I'd say Reality Labs is clearly one of our strategic long-term priorities, and we expect it will be an area of significant investment [...] as we build out towards the very ambitious product roadmap that we have there."