StarVR Corp (宏星技術), a 63.25 percent-owned subsidiary of Acer Inc (宏碁), is to stop trading its shares on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board, as the company is adjusting its business strategy following a decline in virtual reality (VR) sales this year.
“In dealing with the current condition of the virtual reality industry and after considering the company’s future development, business plan and adjustments in operational strategy, the board of directors has decided to apply with the competent authorities to terminate trading of the company’s shares on the Emerging Stock Board,” StarVR said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday last week.
The Taipei-based company is to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on Dec. 27 to discuss delisting from the over-the-counter board, StarVR said.
The development comes after StarVR in late July dropped a plan to raise NT$540 million (US$17.53 million) through the issuance of 6 million new shares.
The company said at the time that it did not need to raise the funds after reconsidering its operational and financial condition, as well as subjective and objective changes in the market and the economic environment.
StarVR, Acer’s VR venture with Swedish gaming hardware and software developer Starbreeze AB, has NT$482.18 million in capital.
The company produces VR devices for professional use, and targets high-end theaters and gaming zones at theme parks and shopping malls. Its latest VR headset, dubbed the “One,” provides a 210° field of view and is powered by eye-tracking technology from Swedish firm Tobii AB.
StarVR made its market debut on April 23 with an initial public offering (IPO) price of NT$69. The IPO had been viewed as a first step by Acer in listing its subsidiaries and raising funds from the equity market to support growth.
While the share price hit an intraday high of NT$127.3 on July 24, it has retreated by 46.9 percent since then and closed 3 percent lower on the day at NT$67.6 in Taipei trading on Friday.
Sales were only NT$1.7 million last month, declining 47.67 percent month-on-month and down 97.43 percent year-on-year, with combined sales in the first 10 months of the year decreasing 89.94 percent from a year earlier to NT$11.72 million as demand for VR devices for the year to date was weaker than expected.
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