Meta has spent $36 billion building the metaverse but still has little to show for it, while tech sensations such as the iPhone, Xbox, and Amazon Echo cost way less

Mark Zuckerberg as an avatar during Connect 2022Meta

• Meta has thrown $36 billion at the metaverse but plans to spend many billions more on the project.
• Wary investors are calling for Meta to focus its effort on its profitable divisions.

The metaverse may be the most expensive project in the history of tech.

Meta, according to an Insider analysis of the firm's financial filings, has pumped $36 billion into its Reality Labs division since 2019.

Reality Labs houses the social-media giant's VR and metaverse arms, and remains massively unprofitable, posting a $3.7 billion operating loss on revenue of $285 million in its most recent quarter, down by almost half compared with the previous year.

The social media giant reported its second consecutive quarter of lower revenues this week, prompting some anxious investors to urge Meta to refocus on its more reliable core businesses — ads and paid messaging.

However, Mark Zuckerberg is continuing to pour billions into his metaverse dream, arguing that it's the future of computing.

The Meta CEO said the company would lose a "significant amount" of money over a three to five-year period at this year's shareholder meeting.

While Zuckerberg may believe hemorrhaging cash is the path to the metaverse's success and profitability, Insider has put together this list of highly successful tech innovations that cost just a fraction of how much Meta has already spent. These figures have not been adjusted for inflation.