HTC: Vive Won’t Be Commercially Available Until April 2016, Here’s Why

HTC has explained why their highly anticipated VR headset, the Vive, has been delayed.

There really isn’t much to say. In a blog post on their official site, HTC revealed they have still been preoccupied with iterating the developer kit, and distributing it to developers, content creators, and companies to study and use. Next on their agenda is hosting a developer conference in Beijing on the 18^th.

HTC says they will distribute 7,000 more units to developers, and will start selling the hardware commercially in April 2016.

If you were wondering, HTC stated a few months ago that they would have a limited number of units available in the end of this year, with more to be produced in Q1 2016. It would seem HTC changed their mind on where the units were to go, unless they didn’t mean it would be commercially available even then?

In any case, the Vive faces stiff competition from PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift, and it is interesting that all three have been indefinitely delayed. There’s definitely a tradeoff between going to market first and releasing the product too early, but none of these companies are even willing to risk it.

Another factor to this is Valve’s own efforts at hardware, and the eerie silence surrounding the launch of Steam Machines and Steam Controllers. We certainly didn’t hear about sales during the vital Black Friday – Cyber Monday holiday, and Valve doesn’t even seem interested in promoting it as much as their latest game sales.

Perhaps Valve is hoping the Vive’s launch can drum up more interest, and have chosen to reserve hype until then? What do you think is HTC’s and Valve’s game plan here? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.