Meta has announced a price increase for its Quest 3 and Quest 3S virtual reality headsets by $50 to $100 starting April 19. This decision is attributed to the rising costs of components that are affecting the consumer electronics sector. The new pricing will set the Quest 3S at $349.99 for the 128GB model and $449.99 for the 256GB variant, while the Quest 3 with 512GB storage will be priced at $599.99.
Meta explained that “the cost of producing high-performance VR hardware has escalated significantly,” pointing to a worldwide surge in prices for essential components, particularly memory chips, which is impacting nearly all consumer electronics categories.
The price adjustments also apply to refurbished units, with Quest 3S models increasing by $50 to $319.99 and $409.99 respectively, while the refurbished Quest 3 models will see a larger increase of $170, bringing their cost to $549.99.
This move follows Sony’s recent decision to raise prices on its PlayStation 5, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal products, alongside Microsoft’s multiple price increases for Xbox consoles in 2025. Traditionally, tech hardware prices decrease over time as component costs drop and manufacturers use price reductions to attract more customers.
However, this trend has not been observed recently across various consumer electronics, largely due to a RAM shortage driven by the high demand for AI computing power. This shortage has also led to price hikes in Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets, Lenovo’s Legion Go 2, among other devices.
With prices rising, consumers are speculating which hardware might be next to see an increase. There is speculation that Nintendo’s Switch 2 could follow suit after its launch at $450 last year.