HTC Vive VR system starts shipping today

Last weekend, we told you that some pre-orders for the HTC Vive VR headset were getting canceled by mistake. With HTC scrambling to fix the issue and re-bill those who wanted to reserve the device, the company has started shipping the product thus meeting its early April deadline. For $799, buyers get the headset, two location sensors and a couple of wireless controllers.

HTC is counting on the Vive to break the company's reliance on smartphones, a business that was once HTC's pride and joy. As a contract manufacturer, HTC built the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, and the first Android handset the T-Mobile G1. It also produced the Nexus One. Under its own name, it delivered big winners like the HTC Touch Pro and the HTC HD2. But in the last few years, the manufacturer has struggled to compete with Samsung, LG and Apple in the high-end of the smartphone market.

The Vive got off to a great start when $12 million in pre-orders were rung up in the first ten minutes of availability. Now that the product is shipping, HTC will focus on its next flagship phone, the HTC 10. That device will be unveiled online on April 12th.


source: @htcvive, Valve via Engadget