HTC has confirmed the date on which it will begin taking pre-orders for its Vive VR headset. Cher Wang, CEO of HTC, has told The Telegraph that pre-orders of the Vive, produced in conjunction with Valve, will be available from 29th February.
Five years ago, HTC was one of the leading smartphone manufacturers, but after a decline in quality of its handsets and the emergence of Chinese upstarts Xiaomi and Huawei saw the company fall into financial disarray, with dire predictions that it could fold within two years. Wang, however, sees the company’s refocus on virtual reality as the key to reviving its fortunes.
“Yes, smartphones are important, but to create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality is more important,” Wang told The Telegraph.
HTC showed off its latest Vive headset, the second-generation developer kit Vive Pre, at CES in Las Vegas last week, showing off a refined version of the headset that debuted at the Mobile World Congress last year.
Visiting the Vive Pre installation at the @AMDGaming @AMDRadeon room at #CES2016 pic.twitter.com/X3yJuS3KXh
— HTC VIVE (@htcvive) January 8, 2016
“Now we are more realistic,” Wang said on the future of HTC. “We feel that we should apply our best design to different type of sectors.”
HTC is yet to reveal how much the Vive VR headset will cost when pre-orders go live on 29th February.
