HTC cuts down the price of its virtual reality headset by $799 to $599. Therefore you may ask why this huge $200 price drop?. Let’s figure out the reason for this price cut.
A while back, Oculus dropped its Rift’s price a lot. At the start of this year, both HTC and Oculus was selling their flagship virtual reality headsets at the price of $800. In the last couple of months, Oculus Rift witnessed 2 significant price drops. As a result of the recent summer sales, you can buy the headset at a mere price of $399. Price gaps play a strong role in the VR market. Therefore HTC had to drop the price to stay in the competition.
Previously HTC executive Patrick Seybold said, “We don’t feel the need to cut the price of Vive, as we’ve had incredible success, and continue to see great momentum in the market,”. Though while announcing this price drop they said they had planned the price cut way before Oculus.
Though it is an interesting technology the VR market is very fragile. The price drop is not just about market competition. It is about securing the future of this advanced technology. Cheaper prices will make it more accessible to a larger demographic. If these companies don’t grow their customers the high-end VR market will cease to exist. These VR headsets also need high-end compatible desktops to run. Not everyone who is willing to buy a VR headset has a compatible desktop. This type of desktops costs anywhere between $700-$800 and obviously, most of us can’t spend $1700 on these setups. Though both of this companies are working on headsets that will work without a desktop.
After the summer sales, the Oculus Rift will cost $499 which is $100 cheaper than the Vive’s new price. The VR competition will become more fierce after Microsoft starts selling their ‘Mixed Reality’ headsets.
