Meta’s 2025: VR & AR Pivotal Year?

The Make-or-Break Year for Meta’s Reality Labs

Meta CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth has positioned 2025 as a watershed moment for the company’s augmented and virtual reality ambitions. In a recent Bloomberg Technology interview, Bosworth revealed this year will determine whether Reality Labs achieves greatness or becomes remembered as a “legendary misadventure.”

Ray-Ban Smart Glasses: A Game-Changing Success

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have emerged as an unlikely breakout hit, selling over 2 million units since their October 2023 launch. The AI-powered eyewear has even outsold traditional Ray-Bans in some markets according to TechCrunch reports, signaling strong consumer appetite for wearable AR technology.

The Competitive Landscape Heats Up

Bosworth acknowledged Meta now faces intensifying competition as tech giants enter the space:

• Google partnered with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on Android XR-based smart glasses
• Apple reportedly plans smart glasses for 2026 as part of its broader AI push

“Suddenly we’re very much in the world with a product attractive to consumers, and thus competitors,” Bosworth observed. “The clock has started on competition coming.”

Execution Over Competition

The Meta CTO emphasized internal execution as the critical factor, citing wisdom from former COO Sheryl Sandberg:

“Most companies fail because they didn’t execute their own plan correctly…We’re focusing on whether we’re executing to our standards.”

Bosworth confirmed Meta has “ambitious plans for the year” that it’s currently on track to achieve. While 2025 will reveal whether the Reality Labs team executed effectively, the true impact may take five years to properly evaluate.

As Meta races to establish market dominance in AR/VR, industry watchers will be closely monitoring whether 2025 becomes the breakthrough year Reality Labs needs or exposes fundamental challenges in bringing the metaverse vision to mainstream adoption.