The dispatch dates for Facebook’s Oculus Quest headset have been pushed back once again in the United States, now not shipping until early March for the 64GB model and late February for the 128GB model when ordered from the official company website.
The increased shipping estimates come after a very busy holiday season for VR, particularly the Quest. The headset was sold out from many retailers ahead of Christmas, resulting in official Oculus orders quoting a February shipping date and Amazon resellers doubling or tripling the price.
With Christmas now a few weeks behind us, it doesn’t look like the Quest shipping dates will return to normal anytime soon. The last update we gave featured a mid-February shipping estimate when ordered in late December. Now, when shipping to the United States, the 64GB model won’t dispatch until March 2nd. The 128GB model is slightly sooner, with a February 27th dispatch date, but will set you back an extra $100.
Finding the headset at some retailers in the United States immediately or much earlier may be possible, and for countries outside of the United States the backorder seems shorter. The UK site says the headsets dispatch February 7, while Europe dispatches January 28. Australia currently has no delay between orders and dispatch, with the Oculus Store citing a same-day dispatch at the time of writing.
The Oculus Quest isn’t the only popular headset on the market at the moment, however. Following the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx, Valve Index seemingly had a surge in popularity and became unavailable for order in late December.
It’s an interesting time for VR – the Oculus Quest, Valve Index and big upcoming games like Half-Life: Alyx are drawing attention to the market like never before and yet, at the same time, CES 2020 was a reality check for the VR and AR industries. Likewise, when it comes to HTC, it seems their best shot at survival might see them leave consumers behind.
