Meta simply formally reduce Quest 2’s value to $200 for the 128GB mannequin, the one mannequin remaining.
It comes only one month after the 256GB mannequin went out of inventory throughout the Meta Retailer and retailers, and it stays unavailable.
When purchased from Walmart, the headset additionally comes with $50 Quest Retailer credit score, successfully valuing it at $150 if you happen to plan to purchase standalone video games.
Quest 2 initially launched over three years in the past at $300 for 64GB storage or $400 for 256GB. The bottom mannequin noticed a storage bump to 128GB in 2021.
Despite the fact that it launched Quest 3 in October Meta didn’t retire Quest 2. As a substitute, Quest 2 continues to be bought as a lower-cost various, and its value was quickly after reduce to $250, the place it stayed till now.
Is A Cheaper Quest 3 Inbound?
Meta’s continued cuts to Quest 2’s value, alongside the disappearance of the 256GB mannequin, strongly counsel the headset is nearing the top of its time available on the market.
Because it stands, if Quest 2 was off the market the entry value for Meta’s VR platform would change into $500, the 128GB mannequin of Quest 3. However there’s robust proof that Meta plans to introduce a less expensive headset to immediately substitute Quest 2, a headset rumored to be known as “Quest 3 Lite” or “Quest 3S”.
A Meta {hardware} roadmap assembly leaked to The Verge in March final 12 months revealed the corporate deliberate to launch a brand new headset after Quest 3 in 2024 “on the most tasty value level within the VR shopper market”.
Experiences from The Wall Road Journal, Bloomberg, and a Chinese language analyst who has been dependable previously counsel this headset will characteristic the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset from Quest 3 however use the outdated fresnel lenses from Quest 2 to hit a low sufficient value to switch it. That is why we now not advocate shopping for Quest 2.
XR2 Gen 2 has a greater than twice as highly effective GPU, which some builders are already utilizing to ship a lot better graphics.
It appears seemingly that Quest 2’s value cuts are the truth is clearance gross sales, and have already efficiently cleared inventory of the 256GB mannequin. However how lengthy will it take for the 128GB inventory to deplete too, and can the cheaper various to Quest 3 quickly observe?