• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Tech

Facebook Execs Say It’s Still Early Days For Virtual Reality

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 9, 2016, 7:20 PM ET
The Davos World Economic Forum 2015
Sheryl Sandberg, billionaire and chief operating officer of Facebook Inc., speaks during a session on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2015. World leaders, influential executives, bankers and policy makers attend the 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos from Jan. 21-24. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Chris Ratcliffe—Bloomberg via Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

As Facebook readies to ship its Oculus virtual reality headsets, the company’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, cautioned investors that it’s still early days for the technology’s adoption.

She explained at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday that turning virtual reality into a business is part of the social networking giant’s 10 year plan rather than an immediate action item. Facebook has been credited for taking an early bet on virtual reality by buying startup Oculus VR for $2 billion in early 2014.

Sandberg’s comments could be aimed at muting investor enthusiasm for virtual reality in the short term. Although movie studios and video game companies are toying with the technology, it is far from becoming a major business opportunity in the near future.

Oculus has already started taking orders for its consumer-focused headsets, which are expected to start shipping in March. They cost $599.

CFO David Wehner echoed Sandberg’s by explaining that Facebook continues to invest in projects outside of virtual reality. He said he believes that there’s much that can be “accomplished with virtual reality,” but it’s still “very early days.”

“It will take time to develop the ecosystem,” Wehner said on stage.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

Meanwhile, Sandberg focused on Facebook’s biggest business, advertising, which continues to thrive. In the fourth quarter, Facebook saw a 51.7% jump in revenue to $5.84 billion, thanks largely to mobile ads, which accounted for 80% of total ad revenue.

In particular, Facebook plans to make ads more relevant, improve targeting on both the core social networking site and photo sharing app Instagram, and improve its video ads.

For more on Facebook, watch:

Growing advertising and dealing with the ongoing consumer shift to mobile are central to Facebook’s future, Sandberg said, hammering home a message she’s been repeating for the past two years. Consumers moved to mobile, but marketers are lagging, creating an opportunity for them to spend much more with the social network in the coming years, she said.

In particular, Sandberg called out the promise of video advertising, which has become a key part of the company’s growth over the past year. She explained that she expects 1.5 million small businesses to upload a video (either a video ad or a free video) in February.

“There’s no way 1.5 million small businesses would shoot TV ads in a month,” Sandberg said.

She also highlighted the growing ability for brands like Heineken and Gatorade to effectively measure their ad campaigns on Facebook. Increasingly, Facebook is giving marketers access to additional kinds of performance data, from when they first appear through the time customers buy something.

“The onus is on us,” Sandberg said. “We can prove we are driving business metrics, which means sales.”

Beyond advertising, she said Facebook would invest in a number of initiatives beyond its core business. They included Facebook Search along with messaging apps WhatsApp and Messenger, which have a respective 800 million and 1 billion monthly active users.

 

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

t
AIMarkets
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg warns Trump’s AI ownership plan would make ‘George Orwell blush’
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago
U.N. reports Southeast Asia’s criminal networks are using tech to build a global illicit economy
AsiaTech
U.N. reports Southeast Asia’s criminal networks are using tech to build a global illicit economy
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion over pirated books used to train Claude in first major AI copyright settlement
LawAnthropic
Anthropic to pay authors $1.5 billion over pirated books used to train Claude in first major AI copyright settlement
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
kid lying down on phone
PoliticsSocial Media
Lawmakers say they’re protecting kids—but their age checks are quietly building an ID requirement for the entire internet
By Catherina GioinoJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
holland
Arts & EntertainmentMovies
‘The audience is telling the industry something’: even IMAX is stunned by Christopher Nolan’s runaway ‘Odyssey’
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman looking up.
CybersecurityOpenAI
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
10 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.