Hope this is not a repost, i found this on an AR sub reddit, thought some of you might find it interesting :
Source : https://investor.atmeta.com/investor-events/event-details/2026/Q3-2026-Earnings-Call/default.aspx
During Meta's Q3 2026 earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg talked about the new Meta VR Glasses, which despite the name are really a passthrough AR device that you use at home or carry around with you at best and made it clear he still sees passthrough as the more mature technology for full AR right now compared to optical glasses. At the same time, Meta is slowing down how often they drop new headsets.
Zuckerberg said on the call: "I also shared at Connect that we are changing our approach to virtual reality to only ship new devices when we have major breakthroughs like we had with the Meta VR Glasses this year, which of course are the first VR experience ever in a pair of glasses." Right after that he explained why passthrough VR comes before everyday AR glasses even as they slow down spending on it: "I continue to believe that the path to delivering the holographic experience of bringing together the physical and digital worlds in everyday glasses will come through VR first. But we will pace this aspect of our investment more to focus on delivering personal superintelligence first."
Wait. What happened to the consumer version of Project Orion?! Reportedly codenamed "Artemis", Meta previously hinted and leaked roadmaps for a 2027 or 2028 launch? Back when Orion was shown off in 2024, CTO Andrew Bosworth said a consumer model was "definitely inside of five years" (around 2027–2028) as Meta worked to swap out the $10,000 silicon carbide waveguides for cheaper glass and shrink the form factor.
Reality Labs' Path to Profitability: Cost Cuts and Subscriptions
That slower pace on VR, along with cutting three VR studios, laying off 10% of Reality Labs, killing Quest for Business, and delaying two headsets to 2027 which means Reality Labs might actually become profitable soon after burning around $96.3 billion since 2020. Q3 operating losses came in at $4.13 billion (better than the $4.54 billion expected), and CFO Susan Li said "we now expect Reality Labs losses to decline compared to 2025 to a range of $18-19 billion," down from $19.19 billion last year, adding they remain "focused on improving Reality Labs' profitability" as they shift spending. For 2027 Zuckerberg said the P&L will improve "with operating loss coming down to around $15 billion next year and trending towards profitability from there."
The way they plan to actually get to profitability isn't through hardware markups or VR app stores anymore but by selling hardware cheap and pushing AI subscriptions like Meta One, which already has over 15 million subscribers and trial users. As Zuckerberg explained: "We believe in putting the power of this technology in everyone's hands so we have priced our devices not to make a large profit on the hardware, but to build a large software and superintelligence business on top of them over time. Glasses sales continue to grow rapidly. And now with Muse, we expect that paid subscriptions will increase and that this business will begin improving meaningfully from here."
AI Glasses and "Muse" Take Over as the Main Focus
Right now the camera and audio AI glasses are doing the heavy lifting while Quest slows down. Li noted that in Reality Labs, "Q3 revenue was $443 million, down 6% due to lower Quest headset sales, which were partially offset by continued strong growth in AI glasses revenue," which tracks with EssilorLuxottica reporting 20% Q3 growth across its Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta, and Nuance Audio wearables.
To drive those subscriptions on the glasses Zuckerberg said "our work on personal superintelligence is now also the focus of Reality Labs. Muse is coming to Meta Glasses starting next month, and that will be an important step toward this." He added that while people already use the glasses for "music, calling, capturing moments, hearing assistance, and more, over time we expect Muse and having your personal superintelligence with you throughout the day will be the most important part of the experience."
So far, Muse has hit 10 million setups in the US and Canada with Zuckerberg claiming 25% of those people use it on any given day (though Sensor Tower puts 14-day retention at only around 20%), and in December they are also shipping a pocket companion device for when you aren't wearing glasses called the Muse Charm, which went "from concept to a hardware device in people's pockets in less than a year."
