Meta blames RAM shortage for $100 Quest 3 price hike

theverge

Meta blames RAM shortage for $100 Quest 3 price hike

Both Quest 3S models will also cost $50 more.

Both Quest 3S models will also cost $50 more.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
is a senior reporter covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme.

Meta is the next tech company to hike up hardware prices due to the global memory shortage.

Beginning April 19th, Meta’s 128GB Quest 3S VR headset will cost $349.99, the 256GB Quest 3S will cost $449.99, and the Quest 3 will cost $599.99. Those are increases of $50 for both Quest 3S models and $100 for the Quest 3.

Refurbished units will be getting a price hike, too. The refurbished 128GB and 256GB Quest 3S models are similarly getting a $50 bump to $319.99 and $409.99, while a refurbished Quest 3 will cost $549.99, a $170 increase. Accessories will keep their current prices.

“We’re making this change because the cost of building high-performance VR hardware has risen significantly,” according to Meta. “The global surge in the price of critical components — specifically memory chips — is impacting almost every category of consumer electronics, including VR. To keep delivering the quality of hardware, software, and support you expect from the Quest platform, we need to adjust our pricing.”

With the changes, Quest headsets are just the latest tech products that cost more due to the RAM crisis, a list that already includes Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets, Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, Lenovo’s Legion Go 2, and Sony’s PlayStation 5.

However, at least for now, one other Meta hardware category is safe from a price hike: Meta isn’t expecting to raise prices on its smart glasses due to the memory shortage in the near future, Meta spokesperson Johanna Peace tells The Verge.

Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.

Source: theverge

arrow_back Back to News