Facebook’s (FB, Financial) CEO Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want to miss the next big thing. That’s why, last year he bought one of the coolest tech company Oculus – the Virtual Reality (VR) Headset Maker, at the price of $2 billion.
Some experts had doubts about Facebook's acquisition of Oculus, as it was not clear what Facebook wanted to do with a virtual reality game company. Oculus was an innovative technological company that made cool gear for gamers, but the big question was how it would fit into Facebook’s stated mission of connecting everyone, understanding the world and building a knowledge economy. However, Zuckerberg emphasized that Oculus’ mission perfectly matched Facebook’s 10-year strategic goals, and this acquisition would aid the latter to define the next major computing platform.
Oculus' big leap
Oculus is currently focused on gaming, and people are still waiting for the upcoming sales on the VR headset. It has been designed to immerse people into the world of gaming, tricking their visual and audio senses to believe that they are in a different world, far from reality. Possibly, Facebook will help Oculus get its VR headset into the market quickly, and sign partnerships to build more games from the beginning.
There are a number of possibilities – imagine enjoying a Courtside seat at a game, studying in a virtual classroom, consulting a doctor face to face, and much more. You just have to put the goggles on your head, and you will become virtually capable of accessing the world without going anywhere. Facebook’s CEO sees VR as a “new social platform.”
He is not the lone member praising the possibilities with VR. IDC analyst Scott Strawn states that VR is going to be the next major platform after mobile, even if the mass deployment of VR outfits will take years. He goes further ahead to mention that he was not surprised about Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus, as its primary rival Google (GOOG, Financial) has been working on developing its VR technology for years.
However, Lewis Ward, research director of gaming at IDC, called this deal to be a “head scratcher.” He sees the deal as a mismatch between Facebook and Oculus because the former has to do more with casual gaming, and the latter is a cutting edge gaming technology company. But he agreed that it might be a strategic move by Facebook to build grounds for the coming future. And, definitely, this acquisition is a boost for Oculus as it will have more resources for developing hardware and software now for multiplayer gaming.
What’s next?
Though Facebook has found a steady ground for its established ad business on mobile platforms, previous attempts to build next generation in-house social apps have continuously failed. In the past Zuckerberg has bought Instagram and WhatsApp for maintaining a strong foothold in the market, because there is always a fear in the virtual world that someone will take your place if you don’t keep providing new experiences to your customers. That is how popular social networking website Orkut went down, when Facebook rose to take its place.
The second most important thing will be how fast Facebook could deliver this VR experience to its customers. Consumers still don’t know whether the Oculus VR headset will do well publicly. Meanwhile, Google unveiled a similar product called Cardboard, which is affordable, ready and available to everyone. Google’s concept is also very simple. The user can be anyone with an Android phone, and the product comes really cheap because it is made up of highly affordable material – cardboard, lenses, a magnet and a rubber band. This VR device from Google’s workshop, is already available for the masses and could act as a threat to the Oculus VR headset.
If Facebook wants to seize this opportunity in social VR, it will have to shift its focus from merely news feed to building a new social VR platform.
Final word
Whether Oculus stands to gain from this partnership is yet to be seen after the Oculus VR headset's performance is tracked in the market. But one thing is sure that Google is already in direct competition with Oculus and the journey would not be smooth for the latter. As Facebook’s user base remains strong it might aid Oculus to build the brand image for its VR headset quicker in the tech market. But as stated earlier, a lot will get revealed on the Facebook-Oculus partnership in the near future.
