When in financial trouble, most tech outfits look to streamline their product portfolio, reduce expenses and focus on one or a few things they’ve been doing for a while. But that’s not working in HTC’s slumping camp, so instead of further cutting back on hardware releases, the Taiwanese consumer electronics company is expanding.
Forget tablets or smartwatches, as virtual reality headsets are nowadays considered the industry’s “next big thing.” HTC, alongside Oculus and Sony, wants to start trends, and it’s got gaming veteran Valve and PC heavyweight HP in its corner to help get the Vive off the ground.
Not only has Hewlett-Packard scored a top spot on the HTC Vive’s recommended roster of “optimized” computers, but according to Digitimes, the Palo Alto-based business will sell its VR-ready products to its new partner for rebranding purposes before long.
File that under unsubstantiated gossip for now, though the same publication reported on rumors of a VR spin-off conglomerate which ultimately panned out. Ergo, it’s likely we’ll soon be able to purchase HP-manufactured, Vive-branded PCs bundled with VR goggles directly from HTC at “friendlier” prices than separate acquisitions. Still, only 500 to 700K Vive units are expected to sell in 2016, compared to 6 million PlayStation VRs, and 1M Oculus Rifts.