HTC Rumored to Spin Off Vive VR

According to HTC, the company will “continue to develop our VR business to further maximize value for shareholders”.

HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang, speaks to guests after the launch of three new products – the HTC desire eye smartphone, RE camera and RE eye experience software – during a presentation in New York October 8, 2014. With HTC struggling to compete in the current Android smartphone market, and losing market share and money, the VR efforts would be less at risk of collapsing if split away from the smartphones. HTC stock rose 5 percent after the initial reports were published.

The reports from a local media in Taiwan had sparked a rumor that indicated HTC and its chairperson, Cher Wang, would retain 100% stake in the new company.

VR is going to be huge for years to come and tech companies are racing to stay ahead of the pack. HTC is pinned its comeback on a combination of cost-cutting and more marketable devices, but the company said that the Internet of things, wearables and VR are also areas where it believes it can rebuild its popularity with consumers.

In the company’s most recent third quarter results it reported an operating loss of around $151m on revenue of $660 million – down from $1.3 billion in the previous year.

KitGuru Says: HTC has been trying hard to hype up the Vive but it seems that every time it brings up something about a future Valve game it just gets denied or retracted later on.

The pre-order for the device is set to commence on February 29, 2016, and the device would be hitting the store shelves by April 2016.