Facebook's transition to metaverse has eaten into the social media giant's profits

https://www.npr.org/2022/02/03/ [login to see] /facebooks-transition-to-metaverse-has-eaten-into-the-social-media-giants-profits
The public got its first glimpse at how Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg's proposed transition to a more immersive Internet is affecting his company's finances, and it didn't like what it saw.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, said Wednesday its Reality Labs lost $3.3 billion last quarter. Reality Labs is the division that designs and builds the virtual reality devices, such as the Quest 2, that will be used in the metaverse.

This was the first quarterly earnings call since Zuckerberg announced his plans to focus more on the metaverse, a digital world of avatars and augmented reality.

"This fully realized vision is still a ways off," Zuckerberg said. "And although the direction is clear, our path ahead is not perfectly defined."

The company posted income of $10.3 billion for the quarter, down from the same period last year. It acknowledged headwinds that are cutting into the company's growth, such as competition for short-form videos.