Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg (pictured) voiced faith its metaverse project would deliver a very exciting 2030s for the company, as it booked another loss of around $3 billion in the associated business unit in Q1.

The Facebook-parent’s Reality Labs segment, which includes its AR and VR consumer hardware businesses alongside its metaverse project, lost $2.96 billion during the quarter, around the same as the unit cost Meta Platforms in Q4 2021, the period in which it rebranded to reflect a focus on the extended reality vision.

Addressing investor questions during Meta Platform’s financial results call, Zuckerberg acknowledged the cycle between investment and profitability for Reality Labs would be longer than for its traditional software products.

He added there was an expectation for continued high investment in the division and indicated it was unlikely to be a big revenue generator for several years. However, some of the software being developed in Reality Labs could offer nearer-term cash generating opportunities, he noted.

“Primarily this is laying the groundwork for what I expect to be a very exciting 2030s,” Zuckerberg said adding when the unit is “more established as the primary computing platform” he expects “there will be results along the way too.”

Meta Platforms reported a net profit of $7.5 billion, down 21 per cent year-on-year, on revenue of $27.9 billion, up 7 per cent.