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Oculus VR News | April 25, 2024

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg 'Happy' with Oculus Rift Pre-Orders

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg 'Happy' with Oculus Rift Pre-Orders

Image courtesy of: kris krüg/Flickr

FRΛNK R.

During Facebook’s latest earnings call on Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors and analysts that he is “happy” with the direction Oculus Rift pre-orders are going, however, the company does not expect the upcoming launch of the Rift to have a significant impact on it’s 2016 financial outlook.

“Yes, I am happy. I don’t show much joy, but i’m happy,” Zuckerberg expressed during the call. He also noted how the consumer launch of the Oculus Rift will mark an “important step towards the future,” as innovations in virtual reality technology advance over time to achieve its full potential, and evolve the way we interact with the world in our daily lives.

“This Oculus launch is shaping up to be a big moment for the gaming community,” Zuckerberg said. “But over the long-term, VR has the potential to change the way that we live, work and communicate as well. The launch is an important step towards the future, and we’re really looking forward to seeing how people use it.”

While pre-order sales for the Oculus Rift are reportedly better than anticipated, Facebook has been clear with expectations indicating that the consumer Rift virtual reality headset will likely not play a major role in shifting its revenue stream for this year.

“It’s not going to be material to our financials this year,” stated Facebook chief financial officer Dave Wehner during the call.

In 2015, Facebook earned $17.93 billion in revenue with a net income of $3.69 billion—and while there is a lot of excitement about the future of VR, it may take a few more years before we see Oculus and the virtual reality industry as a whole make that billion dollar dent in the market.

The Oculus Rift will begin shipping its first batch of pre-orders to its early adopters on March 28th, with new orders expected to ship in July.