VR/AR expert Antony Vitillo (aka ‘Skarred Ghost‘) got an opportunity to speak with HTC Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin recently, and while Graylin predictably couldn’t answer the question on everyone’s mind—”how much is Vive Pro going to cost?”—we learned the headset is definitely targeting a prosumer price range that makes it “more expensive than the existing consumer product.”
Vitillo got a chance to speak with Graylin for about an hour earlier this week, touching on everything from the Chinese VR market to the possibility of Vive Focus coming westward (only if it does ‘well enough’ in China). While there wasn’t any Earth-shattering news to come from the talk, Graylin did leave Vitillo with this when asked about the ballpark price of Vive Pro:
“I can’t give you any specifics, but I will say that in the very near future pricing information will be released,” said Graylin. “I think at that point you’ll have all your questions answered. Of course, as you said [earlier], it is a product targeted at the prosumer, or the professional user. As with any product targeted towards a professional user, it will be more expensive than the existing consumer product.”
While none of this comes as any surprise, as the Vive Pro features a higher-spec AMOLED display at 2880 × 1600 (1440 × 1600 pixels per eye) – the same seen in the Samsung HMD Odyssey – integrated audio, an ergonomic headstrap similar to the deluxe audio strap for the consumer Vive, and dual front-facing cameras—HTC has already set some precedents on what it considers to be pricing intended for consumers, and pricing for enterprise users.
The consumer Vive can currently be purchased for as low as $600, a full $200 less than when it launched back in April 2016. It was only back in August 2017 that the consumer Vive dipped down to $600 to remain competitive in the face of Oculus’ $400 Rift + Touch bundle. While this may be grasping at straws somewhat – the Vive was priced to appeal to consumers at launch when it carried an $800 price tag, and not professional users, meaning HTC could possible put Vive Pro in even a higher price class than what was seen back in April 2016.
Healthy speculation notwithstanding, Vive for Business, the company’s enterprise-focused Vive, is priced for professional user at $1200. This admittedly includes a lot of extras intended for out-of-home usage including a professional user license, a commercial warranty, deluxe audio strap, extension cable, and the guarantee of phone support. On the other hand, it remains to be seen to what extent the Vive Pro will offer these premiums like licensing/warranty options.
So while there’s still no exact idea how much you’ll have to shell out for a Vive Pro when it launches, you should probably consider yourself a prosumer when HTC finally announces pricing information in “the very near future.”
You can check out Vitillo’s full article here, replete with time stamps for each of his questions.