In this week’s FWD, we are diving into Meta’s future plans that CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, discussed during Meta’s recent quarterly earnings call. Despite the company missing its earnings per share goal, Zuckerberg showed optimism regarding Meta’s future in Reels, the launch of Horizon, and the Metaverse.

Meta plans to capitalise on the increasing popularity of video content by enhancing AI recommendations through Reels, which was launched globally in February 2022 to rival TikTok. Zuckerberg said, “Reels already makes up more than 20% of the time that people spend on Instagram. Video overall makes up 50% of the time that people spend on Facebook, and Reels is growing quickly there as well”.

Zuckerberg also shared Meta’s plans to launch a new social media platform (Horizon) later this year, he said “Horizon will make it easy for people to step into metaverse experience from a lot more platforms, even without needing a headset”.

News:

• Snapchat reveals its latest technology, Pixy, a flying pocket-sized camera that operates without controllers and content downloads to the user’s Memories.
• Netflix introduces new animated kids series ‘Battle Kitty’ which stretches the limits of interactive tech and shows the potential of interactive shows.

Startup:

• BarkBox is a customisable subscription box which includes toys and treats for dogs. The boxes, via doorstep delivery, are tailored to your dog’s size and preference

Insights:

• The Games and Finance category shows signs of recovery in Q1 as worldwide app downloads reach nearly 37bn.
• As YouTube and TikTok continue to battle for users, YouTube Shorts capitalises on 30bn a day views by introducing Ads.
• Amazon reveals July as the month for this year’s ‘Prime Day’, where customers can save on products across every category in more than 20 countries.
• In a push to make the Metaverse an everyday reality, Meta plans to launch 4 new VR headset types over the next 2 years.