Meta has raised the prices of Quest 3 and Quest 3S starting from Sunday. Meta said the reason for the price increase is "the significant increase in the cost of manufacturing high-performance VR hardware." The company said in an official statement: "The skyrocketing prices of key components around the world - especially memory chips - are affecting almost all consumer electronics product categories, including VR."
- Quest 3S (128GB): $300 → $350.
- Quest 3S (256GB): $400 → $450.
- Quest 3 (512GB): $500 → $600.
Prices for official accessories remain unchanged, but prices for refurbished headsets have also increased.
It should be noted that the 512GB version of Quest 3 was actually priced at US$650 when it was first released in 2023. The price was later reduced due to the launch of Quest 3S, so even with this price increase, it is still lower than the initial price.
Of course, Meta is far from alone in taking this step. Sony has raised the price of its PS5 console twice, Microsoft has also raised the prices of its Xbox consoles and Surface computers, and Samsung has also raised the prices of many mobile phones and tablets. Among technology giant products equipped with large-capacity memory, only Apple and Google currently maintain their original prices, but there are rumors that their future product pricing will be higher.
As early as February this year, Valve stated that due to the memory chip crisis, it needed to "re-evaluate" the "specific release plans and pricing" of Steam Frame and Steam Machine. When the company first announced the headset in November last year, it told UploadVR that it was targeting a price of less than $1,000 for the entire Index set of devices, but it’s unclear whether it can achieve that goal.
While announcing the price increase this week, Meta also reiterated that it will "continue to invest in the VR field and lead the development of this category" and said that the company has a "long-term product roadmap including new hardware and experiences."
This echoes statements made by Meta executives in recent months, who have confirmed that the company is still "developing the next generation of headsets" and hinted that the Quest 4, which focuses on gaming experience, is still in planning.