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In the distant 2014, when Facebook paid $ 3 billion to acquire Oculus, Mark Zuckerberg said that the VR environment "will become part of everyday life for billions of people." This has not happened yet. Reuters notes that it is still unclear whether this is due to high prices for gadgets or something in the technology itself.
As a result, surprised by the lack of widespread acceptance, Mark Zuckerberg decided to lower Oculus Rift’s price for the second time this year. This generous and time-limited offer is part of Summer of Rift campaign, within the framework of which announcements of new games and sale of existing projects are expected. For example, last weekend there was a sale with discounts up to 60%.
The virtual reality helmet Oculus Rift in the most accessible configuration initially had an impressive price tag of $ 1 thousand. Production costs, as well as costs of designing and subsequent upgrading of the gadget were included in the final price. Over time, Facebook not only managed to cheapen the VR-gadget, but also to lower the margin, agreeing to revise the device’s cost to achieve sales growth.
In early 2017, VR-helmet Oculus Rift, along with Touch controllers, cost $ 800. In March, Oculus VR’s management delighted their fans with yet another drop in prices for a quarter for all products, offering a similar package for $ 600.
According to research firm IDC, to date, the market has sold about 520 thousand Rift helmets compared with 770 thousand sets of Vive from HTC and 1.6 million sets of PlayStation VR. In 2016, Facebook even allocated $ 250 million for the financial support of creators of VR-content around the world.
The company invested games such as Robo Recall, Rock Band VR and Wilson's Heart, as well as a series of VR movies Through the Ages from the studio Felix & Paul and Follow My Lead, dedicated to the finals of the NBA 2016. Now Oculus intends to allocate $ 50 million only to finance non-player VR projects. These funds will go to authors of VR-films with "innovative and innovative ideas."
Meanwhile, according to analysts, there is still no breakthrough game or application in the realm of virtual reality, which is critically important for the popularization of VR. And while sales of VR gadgets sank, some technical companies switched their attention to the "brother" VR-AR, augmented reality.
source: reuters.com
As a result, surprised by the lack of widespread acceptance, Mark Zuckerberg decided to lower Oculus Rift’s price for the second time this year. This generous and time-limited offer is part of Summer of Rift campaign, within the framework of which announcements of new games and sale of existing projects are expected. For example, last weekend there was a sale with discounts up to 60%.
The virtual reality helmet Oculus Rift in the most accessible configuration initially had an impressive price tag of $ 1 thousand. Production costs, as well as costs of designing and subsequent upgrading of the gadget were included in the final price. Over time, Facebook not only managed to cheapen the VR-gadget, but also to lower the margin, agreeing to revise the device’s cost to achieve sales growth.
In early 2017, VR-helmet Oculus Rift, along with Touch controllers, cost $ 800. In March, Oculus VR’s management delighted their fans with yet another drop in prices for a quarter for all products, offering a similar package for $ 600.
According to research firm IDC, to date, the market has sold about 520 thousand Rift helmets compared with 770 thousand sets of Vive from HTC and 1.6 million sets of PlayStation VR. In 2016, Facebook even allocated $ 250 million for the financial support of creators of VR-content around the world.
The company invested games such as Robo Recall, Rock Band VR and Wilson's Heart, as well as a series of VR movies Through the Ages from the studio Felix & Paul and Follow My Lead, dedicated to the finals of the NBA 2016. Now Oculus intends to allocate $ 50 million only to finance non-player VR projects. These funds will go to authors of VR-films with "innovative and innovative ideas."
Meanwhile, according to analysts, there is still no breakthrough game or application in the realm of virtual reality, which is critically important for the popularization of VR. And while sales of VR gadgets sank, some technical companies switched their attention to the "brother" VR-AR, augmented reality.
source: reuters.com
