Oculus is determined to bring everyone it can into the VR fold. Just a few days ago, the company slashed the price on its Rift headset and Touch controller bundle to $399, and now the company has taken the unusual step of announcing a permanent price drop before the sale is even over.
The sale will run for six weeks, as we previously reported. After that, the Rift and Touch controller package will bump up to $499 rather than its previous $598. That will mark the second price cut in a year—back in March, Oculus slashed $200 off the price of its Rift headset and Touch controller bundle.
While some have speculated that these sales and price cuts are indicative of a second generation headset being around the corner, according to Oculus this is more about claiming a bigger chunk of the market. IDC noted last month that Oculus shipped 100,000 Rift headsets in the first quarter, barely edging out Alcatel (91,000 units shipped) to take fourth place. Meanwhile, Samsung and Oculus's collaboration, the comparatively inexpensive Gear VR, took the top spot with 490,000 unit shipments, followed by PlayStation VR (429,000 units) and HTC's Vive (191,000 units).
Jason Rubin, VP of content at Oculus, told us in March that Oculus sees price as the biggest barrier to consumer VR adoption. True enough, two of the most expensive VR solutions (Rift and Vive) are bringing up the rear among the most popular solutions.
In addition to making the Rift a more affordable option for consumers, it was reported yesterday by Bloomberg that Oculus was working on a standalone VR headset that will retail for $200. Targeted for release sometime next year, this will not be a second-generation Rift, which Oculus is also working on. Instead, Oculus is looking to create a new product category, one that bridges the gap between solutions like the Gear VR and Rift.
As for the price cut that is headed to the Rift and Touch controller bundle post-sale, the package will also come with two sensors, cables, and six free games (Lucky's Tale, Medium, Toybox, Quill, Dead and Buried, and Robo Recall) when you activate Touch.
