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The rising costs of RAM and other computing components are pushing up the price of Meta’s Quest VR headsets, which will increase by $50–$100 (about 12–20 percent) starting on April 19. In announcing that price increase on Thursday, the company cited the “global surge in the price of critical components—specifically memory chips—[that] is impacting almost every category of consumer electronics, including VR.”
Spending like a drunk sailor
In January, Meta announced that it 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 vast majority of that 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).
Unlike many other tech companies that have been pushed into similar price increases in recent months due to the ongoing RAM shortage, Meta’s own spending priorities are at least partly to blame for the rising prices of those components. The company’s recent hard pivot to the “AI superintelligence” race has directly contributed to the conditions that are now making its own Quest headsets more expensive.
Key Takeaways
- Meta’s Quest VR headset prices are increasing by $50–$100 starting April 19 due to rising component costs.
- The company cites a global surge in memory chip prices as the primary cause of increased headset prices.
- Meta is heavily investing in AI infrastructure, including a recent $21 billion investment in data center company CoreWeave and an additional $10 billion for a planned El Paso data center.
- This investment shift has contributed to higher component costs, making Meta’s own products more expensive.
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Originally published at arstechnica.com. Curated by AI Maestro.
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