Mobile tech giant HTC and personal computer manufacturer HP are working on a a singularly priced bundle that includes HTC’s newly released Vive virtual reality headset and an HP computer capable of running it, according to a report this morning by DigiTimes,
Digitimes cites sources from “the supply chain” to make the claim that HTC will be purchasing large orders of VR ready HP computers, rebranding them with Vive imagery, and then re-selling the machines as part of a bundle with the Vive headset itself. HTC has not confirmed this news yet, either to Digitimes or to Upload.
HTC’s Vive and Facebook’s Oculus Rift have both been released into the wild now and, while no official sales numbers for either headset have been released as of yet, most pundits agree that the two rivals will move similar numbers of headsets this year. Oculus itself already offers PC/headset bundles at a discounted price. This close competition would be enough to motivate any company to push a little harder and seek out creative marketing tactics, such as this bundle. However, in October another player will enter the game and its presence will make a bundle like this for HTC a downright necessity: Sony’s PlayStation VR.
PlayStation VR is releasing commercially on October 13. This new headset be undercutting the price of both the Rift and the Vive considerable at $400 and it will also be compatible with an existing install base of over 30 million PlayStation 4 systems.
The two biggest hurdles that headset manufactures must convince potential customers to overcome are price and accessibility. The Vive costs $800 and a PC capable of running it is at least $1000. By launching this HP bundle, HTC is clearly hoping to make both of those pain points a bit more manageable.
When we reached out to HTC for comment on this report, they simply responded: “At this time, there is no comment from HTC on the story by DigiTimes.”
We’ll let you know when we find out more.
