Following its announcement, the HTC Vive VR headset sold over 15,000 units in just 10 minutes. This are amazing stats considering that virtual reality is still a very new niche and literally in its birthdays.
The Taiwanese company partnered with Valve in making the Vive and it was unveiled at the beginning of this year, with preorders beginning on February 29. According to HTC, more than 15,000 HTC Vive VR kits were preordered in the first 10 minutes of the sale going live.
At a cost of $799, there is no doubt that HTC has hit the nail on the head with this unproven technology. In a recent revelation by Investment bank Goldman Sachs, VR business could reach a massive $110 billion by the time 2020 is here. As a result, we have seen many companies such as Google, Facebook and Google, among others, jump on the VR bandwagon. With the new HTC Vive VR headsets posing as the product to drive this technology ahead, HTC is with no doubt in the right direction.
What really is this HTC Vive?
HTC Vive is a VR PC peripheral that is won over the eyes and ears, leaving the person wearing them feeling as if s/he is inside a game or a similar simulated experience. This device actually works with a $1000 PC and unlike other VR headsets; the Vive is equipped with a number of sensors meant for tracking your movement across the room.
The result of these extra sensors is that the player gets the feeling that they are in another place – where the content is taking place. In essence, this is the Vive’s USP.
Competition
As mentioned earlier, HTC is not alone in the VR world. In fact, the newly unveiled HTC Vive VR is just a second of its kind to be unveiled this year. Earlier on, Facebook’s Oculus VR unveiled the Oculus Rift and priced it at $600. Even though the first shipment sold out in just a few minutes and new orders meant for March were pushed into April and May, the company has not gone public with full stats regarding the sales of the Oculus Rift. However, any new preorder for the device will not ship until this summer.
Samsung is also not to be left behind with its efforts in the VR world. The company owns the Gear VR and that it has partnered with Oculus in its development whereas Google has Cardboard and Google Glass.
Consumers are showing that they are ready to part with some good cash just to be part of this virtual reality technology. It is now upon developers to come up with content that can be used with these devices and make some real money in the process.