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The Man That Introduced the HTC Vive Has Left the Company

The Man That Introduced the HTC Vive Has Left the Company

It feels like a lot longer than a year and three months since the HTC Vive was revealed, and a lot has happened since that time. In fact, even the man that helped introduce the kit has moved on.

Today it’s been confirmed that Peter Chou, former CEO of the Taiwanese company, left HTC all the way back in September 2015. Chou stepped down from the role of CEO last year following the launch of its then-newest smartphone, the One M9, which was introduced at the same conference the Vive was.

His work was taken over by current CEO and company co-founder, Cher Wang, while Chou himself became Chairman of visual effects company, Digital Domain. In a statement given to The Verge, HTC confirmed that this was when he retired from the company, though he remains as an Advisor to it.

Work on the Vive got started under Chou’s leadership, and the company did an almost miraculous job of keeping the hardware a secret along with its partnership with Valve and its SteamVR system. The Vive was revealed on March 1st 2015 at HTC’s Mobile World Congress press conference in Barcelona, Spain (you can see the exact moment here). Rumours about a possible VR headset reveal had cropped up ahead of the conference, though many assumed it would be a simple mobile-based kit similar to Gear VR.

Imagine everyone’s surprise when Chou uttered the word “Valve” as he debuted the world’s first Room Scale headset.

A lot has happened since then. Most importantly, the Vive is now finally available to consumers after a handful of delays and redesigns that have made it much smaller, lighter and more comfortable than the original bulky model that Chou held on stage. The device is on sale for $799 and includes everything you need to get started with fully user-tracked VR, save for a PC powerful enough to actually run it.

Chou doesn’t leave the company in a great state, however. Last month the company reported a Q1 2016 revenue drop of 64%, suffering a net loss of NT$2.6 billion (around $65 million USD). There’s hopes that VR will steer HTC back on track, but it’s going to be interesting to see how the Vive’s launch at the very start of Q2 2016 will alter the next round of financial results.

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