The Quest 2 is outselling the Quest 3 thus far. Duh, and so what?
Santa, you may want to take some time to prepare for X-mas of 2023. And by that, I mean ensure that your sled has enough space and a spot for extra-fragile tech, because I think that the Quest 3 is going to be on a lot of wish lists this year. After all, it is one of the best VR headsets around.
But wait, what’s that, Santa? You’re saying that a ton of people are still asking for the Quest 2 too! Well, that’s actually awesome! I mean, the Quest 2 is still up-to-date, accessible and has become Meta’s de facto only budget-friendly headset. Neat!
But given that the Quest 2 has had a long and prosperous — and still ongoing — lifecycle, during which it had ample opportunity to garner a following, can the Quest 3 ever be expected to go beyond what its predecessor achieved?
Well, obviously yes, despite what reports like Amazon sales records may be attempting to convince you of.
So, just in case you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the past several months: the Quest 3 is absolutely awesome-mer than the Quest 2. It’s not only more powerful, but also more capable, with the headset throwing in improved tracking and even MR capabilities into the mix.
But if the Quest 3 is such a substantial improvement over the Quest 2, wouldn’t people be buying it more?
Well, no.
But wait, what’s that, Santa? You’re saying that a ton of people are still asking for the Quest 2 too! Well, that’s actually awesome! I mean, the Quest 2 is still up-to-date, accessible and has become Meta’s de facto only budget-friendly headset. Neat!
Well, obviously yes, despite what reports like Amazon sales records may be attempting to convince you of.
So, just in case you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the past several months: the Quest 3 is absolutely awesome-mer than the Quest 2. It’s not only more powerful, but also more capable, with the headset throwing in improved tracking and even MR capabilities into the mix.
Well, no.
And we have a bunch of actually really valid reasons for that. So I’ll list them off for you here, so that you don’t spend your time needlessly worrying about the Quest 3’s state. Here we go:
And when I say newcomers, keep in mind that this describes a ton of VR enthusiasts, because regardless of how much we talk about the XR industry, it still isn’t as big as the smartphone market for example.
So, do you know what that means? It means that if I want to dip my toes into this VR stuff, I’d rather buy the cheapest headset from a brand I know, than go all-in for a cutting-edge model of a piece of tech, that ultimately, I may not even like.
Heck, I may not even be capable of using it, thanks to all of the insane requirements that VR still has, both related to health or financial status.
So, now that we’ve gotten this little thing known as ”context” out of the way, let’s actually check the sales records for the Quest 2 and Quest 3 for the last month or so. RoadToVR crunched some numbers and came up with the following estimates:
And, yeah. This fits. And the given period — the last 30 days or so — also covers all instances of discounts that featured the Quest 2. The Quest 3, on the other hand, didn’t get a price cut. And that makes total sense, because it’s still at the stage where early adopters and VR lovers are buying the headset.
In other words: this is natural.
- The Quest 2 was on a deep discount during the Quest 3’s pre-release and launch periods, which may or may not have been a good idea on Meta’s part
- The Quest 2 was featured in not just one, but two deals during the recent Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping events
- Meta is insisting that it’s “too early” to offer discounts on the Quest 3 and so, we've not seen any yet
- The Quest 2 is way, way more affordable than it’s younger brother, which makes it a go-to choice for VR newcomers
And when I say newcomers, keep in mind that this describes a ton of VR enthusiasts, because regardless of how much we talk about the XR industry, it still isn’t as big as the smartphone market for example.
Heck, I may not even be capable of using it, thanks to all of the insane requirements that VR still has, both related to health or financial status.
So, now that we’ve gotten this little thing known as ”context” out of the way, let’s actually check the sales records for the Quest 2 and Quest 3 for the last month or so. RoadToVR crunched some numbers and came up with the following estimates:
- The Quest 2 sold roughly 163,000 units
- The Quest 3 sold about 69,000 units
And, yeah. This fits. And the given period — the last 30 days or so — also covers all instances of discounts that featured the Quest 2. The Quest 3, on the other hand, didn’t get a price cut. And that makes total sense, because it’s still at the stage where early adopters and VR lovers are buying the headset.
So, I say let the kid — by which I mean the Quest 3 based on the time the headset has been out and about in the wild — breathe. And by that last bit, I mean accumulate sales naturally when its siblings aren’t on any deep sales. After all, it hasn't even been a full quarter since Meta's latest headset came out.
In my opinion, none of this spells out any sort of doom and gloom for the Quest 3. The best is yet to come for the headset in 2024. After all, we're still waiting on Meta to release more of those sweet, promised features like advanced native MR functions.
In my opinion, none of this spells out any sort of doom and gloom for the Quest 3. The best is yet to come for the headset in 2024. After all, we're still waiting on Meta to release more of those sweet, promised features like advanced native MR functions.
So we’re good. For now. Possibly until the Vision Pro releases. But until that happens, I don’t see any issue why you should be concerned about Meta’s headsets.
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