As I have commented many, many times, one of the major reasons why VR turned out to be an almost complete failure was the exorbitant prices of the headsets at launch. When the headset costs more than a pretty decent gaming PC, and more than a high-quality 4k display (heck, you could even get a pretty decent gaming PC and a quite good-quality lower-resolution display for cheaper than a Vive), and when its use is much, much more niche than either one of those, people aren't going to exactly rush to buy one.
As I have commented previously, I can guarantee that if the VR headsets costed eg. like 200€ at launch, they would have seen significantly more success (perhaps an order of magnitude bigger, perhaps even more). I don't know nor care how that would have been possible, but it's what was needed. But since eg. the HTC Vive costed 900€ at launch, there was a snowball's chance in hell for it to become successful.
So, HTC is publishing an upgraded version of the headset, the HTC Vive Pro (what an imaginative name). Higher resolution (but still has a screendoor effect and relatively narrow field of view problem), bulkier but a bit more ergonomic design...
Did HTC learn from their past mistakes, and develop the headset to be significantly cheaper than the first version?
Of course not. In fact, the HTC Vive Pro is even more expensive than the first version at launch. About 970€.
And get this: That's the price of the headset alone. The tracking sensors and the controllers aren't included. Those will be sold separately later. (The most inexplicable thing about this is that the headset is pretty much completely useless without the tracking stations. You could use it without the controllers in games that do not need them, but the tracking stations are an essential component for it to function.)
In other words, the total price of the whole thing will be much higher than that 970€. (The total price is still to be announced, but it's probably going to be well beyond 1000€. Perhaps in the ballpark of 1100€ to 1200€, or so?)
So yeah, HTC has learned absolutely nothing from their past mistakes. And when you don't learn from past mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them. People didn't buy the first Vive when it was priced at 900€. They aren't buying it even today, when its price has been dropped to 700€.
If people aren't buying the Vive at 700€, in what universe does HTC think they are going to buy for over 1000€?
At this point it's quite clear that HTC isn't even making the headsets for the average consumer. They are making them for corporations who are using them for tech demos, entertainment services, and some applications. I have my doubts, however, about how lucrative that's gong to be for HTC. I doubt that even with all such corporations put together, they are going to exactly sell millions of units.
As I have commented previously, I can guarantee that if the VR headsets costed eg. like 200€ at launch, they would have seen significantly more success (perhaps an order of magnitude bigger, perhaps even more). I don't know nor care how that would have been possible, but it's what was needed. But since eg. the HTC Vive costed 900€ at launch, there was a snowball's chance in hell for it to become successful.
So, HTC is publishing an upgraded version of the headset, the HTC Vive Pro (what an imaginative name). Higher resolution (but still has a screendoor effect and relatively narrow field of view problem), bulkier but a bit more ergonomic design...
Did HTC learn from their past mistakes, and develop the headset to be significantly cheaper than the first version?
Of course not. In fact, the HTC Vive Pro is even more expensive than the first version at launch. About 970€.
And get this: That's the price of the headset alone. The tracking sensors and the controllers aren't included. Those will be sold separately later. (The most inexplicable thing about this is that the headset is pretty much completely useless without the tracking stations. You could use it without the controllers in games that do not need them, but the tracking stations are an essential component for it to function.)
In other words, the total price of the whole thing will be much higher than that 970€. (The total price is still to be announced, but it's probably going to be well beyond 1000€. Perhaps in the ballpark of 1100€ to 1200€, or so?)
So yeah, HTC has learned absolutely nothing from their past mistakes. And when you don't learn from past mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them. People didn't buy the first Vive when it was priced at 900€. They aren't buying it even today, when its price has been dropped to 700€.
If people aren't buying the Vive at 700€, in what universe does HTC think they are going to buy for over 1000€?
At this point it's quite clear that HTC isn't even making the headsets for the average consumer. They are making them for corporations who are using them for tech demos, entertainment services, and some applications. I have my doubts, however, about how lucrative that's gong to be for HTC. I doubt that even with all such corporations put together, they are going to exactly sell millions of units.
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