Meta Lost $10 Billion USD Building the Metaverse in 2021
While its net income was $39 billion USD.
Facebook parent company Meta reported its fourth quarter and full year 2021 results on Wednesday, revealing massive losses by its Reality Labs division of more than $10 billion USD.
Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021, the company has started reporting its financial results based on two segments: its family of apps, which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and other services; and Reality Labs, which includes augmented and virtual reality related consumer hardware, software and content.
Reality Labs saw revenue of $2.2 billion USD for the year ended December 31, noting a $10 billion USD income loss for the same period. The company’s net income in 2021 was $39 billion USD.
Looking forward, the company said it expected its first quarter 2022 total revenue to be in the range of $27 to $29 billion USD.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains optimistic about the company’s future despite heavy losses. “I’m encouraged by the progress we made this past year in a number of important growth areas like Reels, commerce, and virtual reality, and we’ll continue investing in these and other key priorities in 2022 as we work towards building the metaverse,” he said in the release.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Meta shares plummeted by over 20% after the results were announced. The financial disclosures come days after Meta’s crypto project, Diem, said it is preparing to sell assets and scale back.
In case you missed it, Meta introduced 3D avatars to Instagram.
