For Zuckerberg, WhatsApp will boost revenue before the metaverse, says agency

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Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday that WhatsApp and Messenger will drive the company’s next wave of revenue growth, at a time when the company’s first mass layoffs have raised concerns about the financial health of the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

Zuckerberg, addressing specific issues at a company-wide meeting a week after Meta announced the layoff of 11,000 employees, said the messaging app duo is still in the early stages of monetization compared to Facebook and Instagram, according to with comments heard by Reuters.

According to the billionaire, there is a lot of talk about long-term opportunities, such as the metaverse, but the next big pillar of the company’s business will be commercial messages.

Meta allows some consumers to talk and transact with companies through chat applications, including a new feature announced Thursday (17) in Brazil.

Meta’s biggest expense was on staff, followed by investment, the vast majority of it in infrastructure to support its suite of social media applications, Zuckerberg said. About 20% of Meta’s budget was going to Reality Labs, responsible for operations in the metaverse area.

Zuckerberg said Reality Labs is spending more than half of its budget on augmented reality, with products including smart glasses continuing to emerge for years to come.

About 40% of the Reality Labs budget went to virtual reality, while the remaining 105% was spent on futuristic social platforms, such as the virtual world the companies call Horizon.

Chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth, who runs Reality Labs, said augmented reality glasses need to be more useful than cell phones to attract potential customers.

Bosworth said he was concerned about developing industrial applications for the devices, describing it as niche, and that he wanted to keep the focus on developing the device aimed at a broader audience.

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