On May 13, Ming-Chi Kuo analyzed the layoff plan of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, on May 12, saying that Meta’s layoff of its hardware department may slow down the growth of the electronics industry and have an impact on the development of the Metaverse industry.
On May 12, Reuters’ official website issued an article saying that Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms Inc is preparing to cut Reality Labs, the core division of its Metaverse strategy, which is the core division of the company’s renewed focus on hardware products and “Metaverse” strategy, a spokesman said. People have confirmed the above statement.
It is understood that official data shows that Reality Labs, a subsidiary of Meta, invested 10 billion US dollars in the research and development of the Metaverse project in the past fiscal year, and the investment in the first quarter of this year was also as high as 3 billion US dollars.
Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Meta will reduce subsidies for hardware development in the future, and investment in head-mounted displays (HMDs) will also be affected. At the same time, Ming-Chi Kuo also analyzed the current consumption of electronic products. Due to the new user experience and a lower base of shipments, orders for consumer electronic products have been greatly reduced in the entire market so far this year, except for head-mounted displays (HMDs).
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However, Meta’s cutbacks in its hardware division amid the recession may slow down the industry’s growth. I think Meta will lower subsidies for future hardware, and the investments in new HMD technologies (e.g., Micro-OLED, optical waveguide) could be affected, too.— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 12, 2022