During Facebook’s earnings call last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he is impressed with the direction Oculus pre-orders are headed, but that he doesn’t expect the company’s upcoming VR headset to impact Facebook’s 2016 financial outlook.
“Yes, I am happy. I don’t show much joy,” said Zuckerberg on the call while making himself laugh. “But I’m happy.”
While sales of the Oculus Rift are reportedly impressive, early impressions indicate the VR headset likely won’t significantly add to the revenue the company receives from its main business of selling advertisements through its social media platforms. It’s unclear if Zuckerberg predicts Facebook’s Oculus to break even in 2016, or if he expects the division to lose so little money that it won’t alter the company’s financial outlook.
“It’s not going to be material to our financials this year,” said Facebook chief financial officer Dave Wehner during the call.
Initial Rift pre-orders are expected to ship in March, with new orders shipping in July. In Canada, Oculus Rift pre-orders are priced at $914 CAD, significantly more than the device’s $599 USD price tag. On top of this initial price, the Oculus Rift also requires a hefty computer in order to run.
In 2015, Facebook earned $17.93 billion USD in revenue with a net income of $3.69 billion.
Related reading: Facebook Q4 2015 results: $5.84b in revenue, 1.44b mobile users
