Any large-scale VR ambitions must take into account the Chinese market, which is why Meta has been attempting to make inroads there after a 14-year absence. In fact, Meta has been keen to regain the massive potential audience it lost when China outlawed foreign social media in 2009 and began to clamp down on popular Western platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
While China own TikTok has emerged as the country rising social media star virtually everywhere, Facebook has not been able to make a comeback in China, despite years of efforts by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to court Chinese officials. At last, Meta has managed to return to the nation—albeit not through Facebook. Tencent is the key to re-entry for Meta, which wants to sell its VR headsets in China. It practically true With a vast potential audience, China leads the global VR market, and Meta success in this strategy will largely depend on the country. Additionally, there is still a lot to be gained from competing brands striving for the top spot, as the VR industry is still searching for its big break. Tencent could also be a fantastic partner for Meta because of their interest in virtual reality in addition to their market access. But following a difficult 2022, the Chinese behemoth reduced its VR spending, and 2023 has been more about AI than VR. To many surprise, however, Tencent has apparently reorganized its VR team and consented to collaborate with Meta to market headsets built on Meta technology in China, providing Zuckerberg with a means of re-entry. Tencent will sell Meta headgear exclusively in the area as a result of the agreement; sales are expected to start in late 2024, though the terms of the deal are still tentative and could change at any time.
