As its metaverse ambitions encounter roadblocks and its headset hardware faces challenges from Apple, U.S. social media giant Meta is seeking a return to China, following in the footsteps of Apple and Tesla by marketing its Quest series headsets in the country.
The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, reported that at the end of 2021, Zuckerberg raised the idea in a video conference: if Apple could sell iPhones in China, and Tesla could sell cars, why couldn't Meta (then Facebook) sell its hardware devices there?
Meta's plan to re-enter China has seen some progress. Reports suggest that since the end of 2022, Meta has been in discussions with several Chinese tech companies and may collaborate with Tencent, which could become the exclusive distributor for Meta's Quest series headsets and develop VR games for the Quest headset.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Tencent executives had a heated debate on whether to partner with Meta at the end of last year. The directive to proceed with the negotiation was personally issued by Tencent's founder and chairman, Ma Huateng, who wanted to "see what kind of agreement they could reach."
The partnership could be significant for both Meta and Tencent.
As the world's largest gaming service provider, Tencent has a vast array of VR game resources through its own studios and invested companies. However, it doesn't manufacture VR hardware itself, making the Quest headset an excellent "training ground" in terms of quality.
On the other hand, Meta can use this opportunity to enter the vast Chinese market, expand its revenue channels, and receive extensive content support from Tencent for its Quest series. However, due to licensing issues, it's anticipated that the Chinese version of Quest will have content restrictions specific to the mainland.
Furthermore, this provides Zuckerberg with an opportunity to seize market share from competitor ByteDance. According to Counterpoint data, in 2022, ByteDance's Pico series headsets accounted for 43% of the domestic VR headset shipments in China, ranking first.
