HTC already has a solid handle on the high-end VR market, with their HTC Vive said to be outselling rivals two-to-one. However, when it comes to mobile VR, Samsung’s Gear VR has held its ground – at least for now.
Speaking to CNET, HTC’s chief financial officer Chialin Chang indicated the company would be looking to follow up the Vive’s success with a complimentary device aimed at mobile VR users.
“We have a good plan in terms of combining mobility with VR,” said Chang.
“We’re a VR company, we’re going to have something,” he said.
Speaking at an event in Singapore, he said “Vive is very top end, and in the coming months you’ll see our plans in terms of mobility and VR, and it’s not a phone slapped onto a headset.”
At the time, Chang teased that the VR devvice would launch before the end of the year.
However, in the aftermath of the comments, HTC’s corporate office released a statement saying that “Chang was referencing the idea that there are different ways to approach VR that span the full spectrum from truly mobile 360 to immersive room-scale like the Vive, and everything in between. As HTC, we’re better prepared than most companies to reach that full spectrum.”
While neither a confirmation or denial, HTC would be foolish not grow their Vive brand into the mobile space, which is growing far rapidly than the high-end VR sector.
Previous estimates by analysts have pegged the Vive at between 140,000 and 500,000 units shipped as of the end of 2016.
In comparison, Samsung’s Gear VR is estimated to account for 4.51 million VR headsets shipped in 2016.
