“The Silent Pain” of Mark Zuckerberg: Apple can sell iPhones, Tesla can sell cars in China, but Meta cannot.

Meta is relaunching its business operations in China through the virtual reality headset, Quest.

“Why can’t we do it if Apple can sell iPhones and Tesla can sell cars in China?”

This question was posed by Mark Zuckerberg at the end of 2021, serving as a motivation for Meta to relaunch its business operations on the mainland through the Quest virtual reality headset. This is considered the latest move after nearly a decade of Facebook being blocked in Beijing.

According to WSJ, Meta has engaged in negotiations with several Chinese technology companies and has made certain progress with the gaming conglomerate Tencent. However, these efforts still face challenges, particularly as China remains concerned about whether Zuckerberg genuinely has good intentions.

Previously, Meta representatives accused China of technology theft, targeting ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. This somewhat impacted Zuckerberg’s 2016 plans to conquer the mainland and further solidified negative views of Beijing entrepreneurs.

“I think it’s well-documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies,” said Zuckerberg.

After blocking Facebook and Twitter in 2009, China tightened its control over online content. Potential partners of Meta feared similar restrictions would occur with VR—a field that Beijing could tightly regulate.

Experts believe that a successful collaboration between Meta and Tencent would benefit both parties. In particular, China’s massive consumer market would provide resources for Meta to develop virtual reality headsets, software, and applications for the Metaverse.

Previously, the executives at Tencent had engaged in lively debates over whether to collaborate with Meta. Tencent’s Chairman, Pony Ma, decided to initiate negotiations first and then consider suitable business deals.

The challenge lies in how Meta will promote its products in China. Users should have access to Meta’s global services, while Tencent aims to integrate its own products into the virtual reality headset.

According to the WSJ, this is Meta’s latest effort to re-enter China. Facebook is currently blocked in the country with a population of 1.4 billion, but it still generates revenue from Chinese companies that want to advertise on its platform. Meta has also recruited a Chinese policy director after CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivered several speeches in Mandarin.

According to Susan Li, the CFO of Meta, businesses in China are investing in advertising to attract users and expand their market. The main drivers are the reduced transportation costs and the Chinese government’s decision to lift certain restrictions. These factors have contributed to the company’s first revenue growth after three consecutive quarters of decline.

It is known that at the end of last year, Meta began negotiations with several Chinese technology companies, including Tencent and some smartphone manufacturers. Any agreements reached would potentially make the Chinese conglomerate the exclusive distributor of virtual reality headsets.

If successful, Meta will be able to compete with domestic rivals dominating the Chinese market, including ByteDance, the company that led the market with its Pico devices last year, according to research firm Counterpoint. The competition between Meta and Pico is intensifying as Pico’s virtual reality headsets have entered the European and Asian markets.

Other competing rivals include Sony Group, which launched PlayStation VR2 in China in February, and Apple, the recently valued trillion-dollar conglomerate.

Meanwhile, Meta’s virtual reality headsets have not garnered much attention. Most users who purchase Quest 2 do so primarily for gaming purposes, seeing it simply as a gaming console without much added value.

“It’s really sad that the consumer group who bought it last Christmas was not really satisfied,” said Mark Rabkin, Vice President of VR at Meta, adding that customers expect more with Horizon Worlds.

In the near future, Meta will be launching the next generation of its virtual reality headset, Meta Quest 3, as a successor to Quest 2. CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that Quest 3 will incorporate Meta Reality, turning the VR headset into a mixed reality headset. Meta has not yet disclosed the official price, but consumers can expect to pay a bit more than for the Quest 2.

“We have to prove to everyone that all these new features are worth it,” Rabkin told the staff. “Mixed reality has to make the headset better and more comfortable.”

According to Mark Zuckerberg, the metaverse remains a core priority for Meta. The platform is further researching artificial intelligence (AI) technology to support messaging services and advertising.

“We have been focused on both AI and the metaverse for many years, and that will continue to be the case in the future. Both areas are interrelated,” shared Zuckerberg.

According to : WSJ, The Verge