According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Meta has reached an agreement with the Chinese giant Tencent for this company to be the exclusive seller of Meta headphones in China. This agreement has been finalized after a year of negotiations between both companies.
Tencent plans to launch a more affordable virtual reality headset in China next year, which will have cheaper lenses than the Meta Quest 3, which is priced at $499.99 in the United States.
This cheaper version of the device will also include a more advanced GPU than the one used in the Meta Quest 2 and will be available in other markets.
The deal will see Meta take the lion’s share of device sales, while Tencent will earn more revenue from content and services, including software and gaming subscriptions.
Additionally, the earbuds will be pre-installed with games and apps published by Tencent.
China is a giant market, but complicated
With the exception of Apple and Tesla, most Western companies have faced challenges in China, as Chinese authorities closely monitor entities that post content deemed objectionable and do not comply with their strict regulations.
Beijing has blocked many websites, including Facebook and Instagram, through its firewalls.
In that sense, Mark Zuckerberg has attempted to establish ties with China in recent years, including a visit in 2016 that involved touring Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, visiting the Great Wall and meeting with then-internet czar Lu Wei, who was subsequently imprisoned. for alleged corruption.
Meta’s CEO should be pleased with the signing of the deal with Tencent, especially after the negative publicity that surrounded it in China earlier this year.
An influential social media account affiliated with the official Beijing Daily criticized Zuckerberg for a speech at Georgetown University in 2019, in which he criticized TikTok for restricting protesters and activists, such as those involved in the Hong Kong protests.
Zuckerberg has also expressed concern that China’s “internet vision” could be exported to other countries, and has expressed disagreement with TikTok and China on more recent occasions.
Referring to the billionaire who was trying to sell virtual reality headsets in the country, the account wrote: “You broke the wok and now you want to enjoy Chinese food?”