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Why Meta Fell Behind — Reading Their AI Strategy
Hello. How’s everyone doing?
I’m Hiro from Full Body Tracking Lab.
Last time I wrote about Pico price hikes and HMD price increases. I mentioned that Meta’s core SNS business is in a shaky position, making it harder to continue selling hardware at a loss.
Today I’m writing the follow-up: “So why did Meta end up like this?” The keyword is AI.
Meta Isn’t Exactly Loved by Investors
First, some context. Meta’s reputation in the investment community isn’t great. Reality Labs losses continue, the core SNS business is stagnating, and they’re clearly behind in AI — the biggest trend.
The “Quest 3 Is Cheap” Misconception
Some people say “Quest 3 being cheap proves Meta is understood by everyone.” That Meta has a metaverse + SNS strategy that everyone agrees with.
Nobody actually sees it that way.
Quest 3 was cheap simply because Meta was selling at a loss to lock in VR users. Investors view this strategy as nothing but a “money pit.”
The AI Players Are Essentially Four
When we talk about current AI, basically four players come to mind:
- OpenAI (ChatGPT)
- Anthropic (Claude)
- Google (Gemini)
- xAI (Grok)
Meta’s name isn’t among them. While they released Llama as an open-source model, the practical instances where “let’s use Meta’s AI for this task” occurs are overwhelmingly fewer than the other four.
What VRChat Users Should Do
Practical options exist:
- Buy existing Quest devices before price hikes
- Consider VIVE as an option (relative value is increasing as price gaps narrow)
- Save budget with Radeon on the PC side
The Radeon + VIVE route is an increasingly noteworthy combination for entering VRChat on a budget.
Final Thoughts
I don’t want to bash Meta. I actually want them to fix their AI strategy and get back to being a company that can affordably provide the Quest series. Quest is an important ecosystem for the VRChat community.
But pretending the investor-side reality doesn’t exist and talking as if “Meta is a benevolent company” feels off. Knowing the industry reality makes your PC and equipment choices more strategic.
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