Facebook Parent Takes 'Step Forward' With Metaverse, Quest Pro Plans: Gene Munster

Facebook parent company Meta Platforms META has metaverse aspirations. Here are the details from the Menlo Park, California-based company's recent Meta Connect 2022 event.

What Happened: “Meta Connect 2022 offered a roadmap of the company’s go-to-market metaverse vision," Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster wrote. "That vision is a departure from Meta’s roots in consumer-first social products and anchored in the future of work.”

Targeting enterprise customers could be “an advantageous approach” to making metaverse more mainstream, he explained.

The hybrid work environment created with more work-from-home employees could be a headwind for Meta’s metaverse efforts. Expensive hardware can also be more absorbed by enterprise customers than retail consumers.

Here are three key takeaways from Meta Connect:

• Quest Pro at $1,500 is called Meta’s “most advanced headset yet. Munster sees the comfort and functionality of the new virtual reality device as a “meaningful step forward” for Meta compared to the Quest 2.
• Quest Pro will work with Windows 365 from Microsoft Corporation MSFT and with Zoom Video Communications ZM, which Munster calls “two of the most important work tools.”
• Virtual reality and mixed reality functions for the Quest Pro gives Meta time to gain developers before it shifts to augmented reality. “Meta is taking the Trojan horse philosophy: win the developers, win the platform," he says.

Related Link: Meta Platforms Misses On Q2 Earnings: User Numbers, Ad Impressions, Zuckerberg's Comments And More

Why It’s Important: "Metaverse work" is still an experiment and mass adoption is years away, Munster says, expecting "only a fraction of businesses" to try Quest Pro over the next couple of years.

“That means that, over the next three years, Instagram ad growth and competitive dynamics with TikTok will dictate the company’s inherent value," Munster added. Over time technology innovation won’t stop at mobile and the next step could likely be the metaverse.

Competition in the metaverse space could eventually see Apple Inc AAPL and Alphabet GOOGGOOGL take Meta Platforms head-on.

“We expect the company (Apple) to preview an MR (mixed reality) wearable at next year’s WWDC. Google is not far behind with its developments in MR/AR although timing is less clear.”

META Price Action: Meta shares are down 2% to $125.35 on Thursday.