Meta's Orion and post-device payments
Do form factors even matter when they change so quickly?
Disclaimer: views expressed here are my own and do not represent any other organisation
In Meta’s Payments Potential, I discussed how Meta could do more with payments. They are building a hardware portfolio and have three of the most popular apps on earth (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram). An Apple Pay-esque payment system across apps and devices could add to Meta’s top-line revenue in the same way that Apple Pay generates 1% of Apple’s total revenue. Not a bad option considering 98% of Meta’s revenue today comes from advertising sales.
The other key element discussed in the article was form factors.
The Meta Ray-Bans have been a moderate success, likewise the Meta Quest 3 VR headset, but neither has payment functionality like the Apple Vision Pro. Optic ID allows payment authentication when wearing the device, much like FaceID on an iPhone. I contended that over time, form factors will converge, and it will become possible to pay with a pair of Meta Ray-Bans, but not any time soon:
If…
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