HTC to spin off Vive in search of partners and investors

HTC execs revealed they are looking to spin off the VR division, which makes the HTC Vive in partnership with game maker and distributor Valve.

Separating the division in its own company is intended to draw in investors and strategic partnerships to enhance HTC's position in the fast growing VR market. Here's what HTC's President of Global Sales, Chia-lin Chang, had to say:

"Alliance agreements will help HTC enhance its competitiveness and play a more important role in the growing global VR market."

HTC chairperson Cher Wang stressed the importance of VR to HTC's future and its huge potential for growth.

"VR is a very important technology for HTC, and it is not difficult for HTC to generate profits from the technology as there will be a proliferation of VR applications in the education, healthcare, shopping and entertainment sectors over the next 10 years."

The Vive is in a strong position to capture the market as Facebook-owned Oculus has had a few missteps that are draining consumer goodwill. First banning non-Oculus headsets from running games from its platform (this was recently reverted), then trying to negotiate timed exclusivity for many game titles (PC gamers are uncomfortable with the idea of hardware exclusives - that's a console thing). Plus, the Vive has room-scale tracking and famed Valve behinds its back.

Source