Meta’s AI Spending Spree is Helping Make Its Quest Headsets More Expensive
The rising costs of RAM and other computing components are pushing up the price of Meta’s Quest VR headsets. The company has announced that prices will increase by $50–$100 (about 12–20 percent) starting on April 19, according to their announcement on Thursday. In contrast to many tech companies that have been forced into similar price hikes due to the ongoing RAM shortage, Meta’s own spending priorities are partly to blame for these rising prices.
Spending like a drunk sailor
In January, Meta announced its plans to spend $115 billion to $135 billion on capital expenditures this year, up significantly from $72 billion in 2025 and just $28 billion as recently as 2023. The majority of this investment is going into AI infrastructure, including a recent $21 billion in new investment in data center company CoreWeave (in addition to $14.2 billion originally committed) and an additional $10 billion recently committed to a planned El Paso data center (up from $1.5 billion initially).
Key Takeaways
- The RAM shortage is impacting almost every category of consumer electronics, including VR.
- Meta’s recent hard pivot to the “AI superintelligence” race has contributed to these rising component prices.
- Meta’s own spending on AI infrastructure is partly responsible for the increased costs of its Quest headsets.
Originally published at arstechnica.com. Curated by AI Maestro.
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