HTC Postpones Launch Of Vive VR Headset To April; Oculus Rift, PS VR And HoloLens Coming In 2016

HTC announced through its official blog on Tuesday it will be launching the upcoming HTC Vive VR headset in April. The Taiwanese OEM said it wants to deliver the Vive to more content partners and creators while remaining focused on providing the best experience it can for a consumer release.

Since the announcement of HTC Vive VR headset in March this year, HTC said, it centered on developing immersive content, refining user experience and design while working with new partners outside or inside the gaming industry. It partners with Valve to distribute the HTC Vive Developer Kits to content creators and developers.

The tech firm continues to work with other companies for content creation which can span entertainment, education, gaming, retail and medical. It will launch a developer conference on Dec. 18 in Beijing, launch the second generation HTC Vive Developer Kit at CES, and will engage people at key events like Sundance Film Festival, GDC, MWC and SXSW. HTC will likewise expand demo tours.

It plans to kick off 2016 with another 7,000 units of HTC Vive VR headset for the developers, and the commercial version will be available in April.

In August, HTC announced that the Vive VR headset will launch in the first quarter of 2016, a slight delay of the original 2015 launch, said Anandtech. Announcing the postponement of the launch in April is obviously outside both the original and the Q1 2016 plans.

Both HTC and Valve, who work together for Vive, take credit for the delay. It would have appeared not good if both companies waited for the first quarter of 2016 to end before announcing the postponement of the launch date.

According to TechRepublic, Gartner Analyst Brian Blau stated the delay is unexpected because Valve has a record of product delays. "These delays from Valve are a known issue and the game industry even has a term to describe how Valve delays its product launches, it's called 'Valve time,'" Blau said.

The VR space is about to have some emerging products, perhaps, by next year, as players like Oculus (Rift), Sony  (PS VR) and Microsoft (HoloLens) have their products in the pipeline while the lower end and mobile-driven version are already available, courtesy of Samsung (Gear VR) and Google (Cardboard).