Taiwan-based HTC Corp (宏達電), which recently launched its first virtual-reality (VR) headset, the HTC Vive, has projected that the global VR market will overtake the smartphone market in four years.
In a report on China’s Sina Web site, Wang Tsung-ching (汪叢青), head of HTC Vive China, said it took only five years for smartphone sales to jump past personal computer sales in terms of volume, and now that smartphone demand is slowing, VR devices are expected to become the next big consumer technology on the market.
With the rapid evolution of technology, the VR market is likely to overtake the smartphone market in four years, creating a big impact in the high-tech sector and to the daily lives of consumers, Wang said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The HTC Vive, jointly developed by HTC and US video game supplier Valve, was unveiled at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March last year.
The headset is equipped with tracked controllers that allow wearers to inspect objects from every angle and interact with their surroundings. The gadget, priced at US$799, is now on sale globally. HTC’s venture into VR technology is seen as an effort to diversify its product line amid tight competition in the global smartphone market.
According to a Gartner Inc research report, worldwide smartphone sales this year are expected to grow only 7 percent, marking the first year of single-digit percentage growth in a saturated market.
Amid optimism toward HTC’s VR operations after Wang’s forecast, investors rushed to pick up HTC shares soon after the local equity market opened yesterday.
Targeting the VR market in China, HTC is to launch preorders for the Vive on TMall (天貓), one of China’s largest e-commerce platforms, today.
HTC is also to work with Jingdong Mall (京東), another Chinese e-commerce operator, to sell the HTC Vive as part of a package that is to include its latest flagship smartphone, the HTC 10.
HTC chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) is scheduled to address a conference on the HTC Vive in Beijing later today, which is also part of the company’s promotional efforts in the Chinese market.
Several big names in the VR business are expected to attend the conference, including Valve game designer Chet Faliszek; Hua Yong (華勇), founder of the Chinese online gaming company Hangzhou Shunwang Technology Co (順網); and Hubert Larenaudie, founder and senior vice president of game engine developer Unity Technologies.
HTC has also scheduled a HTC Vive summit in Shenzhen in March next year.
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