Meta Records Sees 16% Increase in yearly Revenue for 2023, Metaverse Division Continues to Operate at a Loss

Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Meta (formerly Facebook), recently shared information about the company’s revenue for the last quarter. Meta reported a revenue of $40.1 billion (approximately Rs. 3,34,416 crore) between September and December. Overall, the expansive social media and Web3 company generated $134.9 billion (approximately Rs. 11,25,119 crore) in 2023. On an annual basis, Meta’s revenue saw a 16% increase. Interestingly, Meta’s Reality Labs division has been facing losses since 2021.

In a recent earnings report published on March 4, Zuckerberg acknowledged the positive revenue trends the company experienced. Despite challenges in the Reality Labs division, Zuckerberg praised the progress made in advancing cutting-edge technologies.

“We had a successful quarter as our community and business continue to expand. We’ve made significant strides in our vision for enhancing AI and the metaverse,” stated the 39-year-old billionaire.

Zuckerberg had expressed his dedication to exploring the metaverse when he rebranded Facebook to Meta in 2021. A specialized unit within Meta called Reality Labs was established to focus on research and development related to the metaverse and its applications.

Over the past few years, Reality Labs has introduced metaverse and augmented reality (AR) hardware products like the Quest VR headset series to promote the adoption of these technologies. As of March 2023, Meta has reportedly sold 20 million Quest headsets.

Despite ongoing efforts, the Reality Labs unit at Meta has consistently faced financial losses. In February, Meta disclosed that Reality Labs incurred a loss of $46.5 billion while generating around $11 billion (approximately Rs. 91,744 crore) in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Prior to this, Reality Labs had a loss of $13.7 billion (approximately Rs. 1,12,200 crore) in 2022.

Despite these financial setbacks, Zuckerberg remains optimistic about the forthcoming metaverse expansion. In May 2023, Meta commissioned a study indicating that the metaverse could potentially contribute up to $760 billion (approximately Rs. 62,36,088 crore) or about 2.4% to the US annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035.