Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg is still bullish about the metaverse, criticizes Apple’s App Store policies

Mark Zuckerberg remains positive about Meta’s metaverse plans, even if they cost the company a lot of money and demand significant changes. During the New York Times Dealbook Summit on November 30, he shared “long-term optimism for the metaverse.” 

At this event, Zuckerberg also labeled Apple’s policies unsustainable. Zuckerberg criticized Apple over App Store policies that have negatively impacted Meta’s business for years.

“I do think Apple has singled themselves out as the only company trying to control unilaterally what apps get on the device. I don’t think that’s a sustainable or good place to be,”

the CEO of Meta said.

He added that it’s unfair for Apple to control which apps go on a device and which don’t.

Zuckerberg has been trying to debunk the myth that Meta is entirely focused on building the metaverse. In reality, only 20% of Meta’s investment portfolio is designated to Reality Labs, which is developing the metaverse, and of that, 40% goes into creating VR headsets. He also acknowledged his failures, which included financial downturns, such as laying off 13% of Meta’s workforce (around 11,000 team members).

For the skeptics that don’t believe in Meta’s metaverse vision, Zuckerberg said: “If you’re getting skepticism, you’re pushing hard enough.”

In October, Apple renewed its App Store Review Guidelines and Terms, limiting NFT features. 

For the past few months, Zuckerberg has been actively criticized for Meta’s business model and the company’s plunging shares. His most recent VR headset, the Meta Quest Pro, didn’t receive acknowledgment and was condemned for its high price despite it the product being cutting-edge for the VR industry.