Invincible to TikTok? Zuckerberg warns of a slowdown in Meta's revenue this year

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned that revenue growth will slow this year due to increasing competition from rivals including TikTok — the company's first earnings outlook after a major rebranding at the end of 2021 is bleak.

Meta Platforms executives used the fourth quarter 2021 earnings call to predict slower growth, switching to short video apps as younger users spend less time on their platforms. To curb the trend, Zuckerberg said the company will focus on the Instagram Reels service — a bit like a replica of TikTok — but added that the service is harder to generate revenue than other core platforms.

"People have a lot of options to pass the time, and apps like TikTok are growing rapidly." Zuckerberg said.

Meta Platforms also lamented Apple's privacy changes, saying the measures have made it more difficult to track users and deliver personalized ads, which are expected to cost about $10 billion this year.

It further warns of a decline in ad spending, caused by inflation, exchange rate impacts and supply chain disruptions, all of which can affect budgets.

Meta Platforms' caution did not receive a positive response from investors, with its share price plunging more than 20 percent in pre-market trading and its market value evaporating $200 billion.

Meta Platforms' fourth-quarter 2021 revenue reached $33.7 billion, up 20% year-over-year, even as its net profit fell 8 percent to $10.3 billion, the first decline since 2019.

Its monthly active users increased by 4% to 2.9 billion, and its daily active users increased by 5% to 1.9 billion.

As part of its march into metaversity, Meta Platforms also disclosed data in detail for the first time for its VR/AR business, Reality Labs, announcing a $3.3 billion loss due to the significant amount of money it has invested in its vision for the future. (C114 Jiang Junmu)