While HTC’s smartphone business appears to hanging by a thread, the company is bullish on the fortunes of its VR division.
The company has responded strongly to a recent report stating the public’s interest in is declining; claiming the HTC Vive is actually selling at a record rate.
Related: Best VR headset
In a blog post, HTC said “news of the so-called death of VR comes once a year and is greatly exaggerated.” The firm claims that the reason for a so-called “steep decline” in sales by the outlined in the report wasn’t due to falling demand, but because HTC couldn’t make the headset fast enough to satisfy consumers.
It adds: “VIVE has paced at its highest sales velocity of all time, for weeks on end, and we sold out. For a consumer electronic product in its third calendar year, this continued trajectory is nearly unheard of.
“Don’t worry, though: we are ramping up production of the original VIVE and units will continue to roll out to online and retail over the coming weeks.”
The company, which is also behind the Vive Pro, pointed to figures claiming the Vive was comfortably leading the VR space in the first part of 2018. The International Data Corporation say the Vive had a 35.7% share, compared to the 9.0% snapped up by Oculus. Samsung is in second place with 18.9% of the market.
Find out more: Read our Vive Pro Review.
HTC writes: “More and more, as people begin to understand the possibilities for virtual applications, word of mouth will grow, and sales will continue their upward trajectory.”
So, HTC is confident this is only the beginning for high-end virtual reality experiences, predicting things are only going to get better. Do you agree with that sentiment?
Related: HTC Vive vs Oculus Rift
Have you invested in a HTC Vive headset? Are you seeing better and better experiences? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.