I think saying that you'd like a Valve Pipe on your face probably puts you on some sort of watchlist.
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Ars Technica: 'Can we stop pretending HTC has a future in VR?'
- Thread starter Spring Drive
- Start date
I think saying that you'd like a Valve Pipe on your face probably puts you on some sort of watchlist.
I think it's too early to count HTC out. They seem to be building quite a VR portfolio in Asian markets.
Also, they did do a very good job building the Vive.
Of course, it's also true that all of the fundamental research was done at Valve, and they have the important patents (chaperone, lighthouse). And they are on record in wanting to keep access to SteamVR open for any hardware (which is a really good thing).
But all of this just means that HTC will have to compete on the merit of their hardware. As will every other supplier. Again, I see this as a strength of the OpenVR ecosystem.
Also, they did do a very good job building the Vive.
Of course, it's also true that all of the fundamental research was done at Valve, and they have the important patents (chaperone, lighthouse). And they are on record in wanting to keep access to SteamVR open for any hardware (which is a really good thing).
But all of this just means that HTC will have to compete on the merit of their hardware. As will every other supplier. Again, I see this as a strength of the OpenVR ecosystem.
Are you in this thread for any other reason than to vent your readily apparent frustration at the lack of a HL3 release?
As a Vive owner, I don't care if HTC has a future in VR or not. I went with Vive because Valve clearly sent a message with the open sourcing of OpenVR that any future headset with work with the games I purchase on Steam. If HTC wants my money for a Vive2, they'll need to earn it by bringing a product I want to purchase over the competition. That's how it should be.
I feel like HTC will have a mind share in the VR community the same as Oculus or PlayStation having been one of the first to market.
Not that they won't fail, seems they're doing a fine job of that themselves, but having your brand on a nicely manufactured and operational piece of tech is no small win.
Not that they won't fail, seems they're doing a fine job of that themselves, but having your brand on a nicely manufactured and operational piece of tech is no small win.
Moral Panic
Member
How much of the tech do HTC own on their phones though? They don't make CPUs or chipsets and I don't think they make display panels either. I kinda think people are underestimating how much work goes into design/materials and manufacture. I'm not an expert on this but there are loads of small chinese companies making phones and tablets using almost the same parts as the big companies but that doesn't stop them from competing by choosing more premium materials, better sourcing of parts, better manufacturing channels etc.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
Valve has released 6 games in the last 9 years (and that's counting Orange Box as 1 game), pretty middle of the road for any AAA developer.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
I am not sure if this is a real article and not a personal e-mail or forum post the author mistakenly e-mailed to his Ars' account and the automatic filter turned it into an article.
I am not sure who the author is talking to.
I am not sure who the author is talking to.
Magicgamer101
Member
This was an absolutely terrible analogy.
QuantumSquid
Member
Maybe one day it will be the Steam Vive, or simply the Vive.
Vive is HTC's branding. Steam has SteamVR.
a big part of the reason older phone companies are folding/selling themselves/leaving the market is because it's so hard to differentiate themselves when they own so little of the end product themselves. most of them tried to survive through software customizations but it turns out android users don't much like that, especially because it makes patching (already a chancy business on non-nexus phones) even harder.
the chinese companies making it big right now are piggybacking off of the manufacturing efforts of their predecessors and an ability to function with lower margins, but they'll run up against the same wall eventually.
the survivors will be the vertically integrated OEMs like samsung and apple.
I came here to basically say this
and their phone business is dying horribly and dragging the company under
why would VR be any different for them? they can't do anything with the industrial design that healthier companies can't replicate for cheaper, and LG/samsung will always have a major competitive advantage.
LordRaptor
Member
The longterm future of VR isn't in aping the phone market - which is an oddity in itself.
Its closer to the television or dvd player market.
You will have the manufacturers - in this case HTC, you will have the underlying technology standards - in this case Valve, and you will have the content producers.
VR if / when it achieves mainstream adoption will be as a broad technology platform based on shared standards.
Its closer to the television or dvd player market.
You will have the manufacturers - in this case HTC, you will have the underlying technology standards - in this case Valve, and you will have the content producers.
VR if / when it achieves mainstream adoption will be as a broad technology platform based on shared standards.
hybrid_birth
Gold Member
You will really have a "half life" if you smoke it.
(half a life, assuming cancer)
What a dull, repetitive article that was. Its the HTC Vive because they're the company producing it, marketing it, distributing it ect. The comparison with Foxconn and Apple is plainly wrong, as while Apple doesn't manufacture the phone they do everything else. Valve would seem to be more like a IP provider, with HTC doing the rest.
to be fair HTC doesn't seem to have a future in that area either
both of those are cutthroat small margin markets heavily dominated by the people who actually manufacture the core components involved (drives/lasers, lcd panels, etc).
not really that different and still doesn't bode well for HTC. the point of the article is that VR's small opening success will not turn their fortunes as a company around, not that VR itself is unhealthy.
nephilimdj
Member
Isnt HTC about to be bought by a Japanese company anyway? HTC VIVE could be dead in 2 years
xenorevlis
Member
HTC VITA?
itshutton
Member
I think HTC deserve the majority of the praise as they have taken the majority of the risk and I would imagine the majority of the R&D cost.
1. Look at how Oculus orders have gone because Oculus isn't a hardware manufacturer.
2. Look at how the steambox went because Valve let hardware manufacturers front all of the risk.
3. PSVR is reportedly capacity constrained and Sony are one of the worlds biggest hardware producers.
Valve seem like a very risk averse company and I don't think the Vive would have happened with them alone as their expertise in in software (and basically a storefront).
1. Look at how Oculus orders have gone because Oculus isn't a hardware manufacturer.
2. Look at how the steambox went because Valve let hardware manufacturers front all of the risk.
3. PSVR is reportedly capacity constrained and Sony are one of the worlds biggest hardware producers.
Valve seem like a very risk averse company and I don't think the Vive would have happened with them alone as their expertise in in software (and basically a storefront).
Nihilistic Monk
Member
I'm quite partial to "steamy window"
Yes, HTC took the risk of manufacturing and really delivered on that front.
But the fact that they didn't research and don't own any of the core technology is still true. It's a mixed blessing.
I argued for HTC in this thread, but I think saying that Valve did "software work" is underselling their contribution.
They invented some of the core hardware that makes the Vive possible.
Fair enough, I had meant for that to fall more in the "delivering intended spec/feature outlines" part of my statement, but even that's probably selling it short.
But in the end, clearly Valve needed a partner. They might not stick to just HTC, but they have a place at the table and have every right to fight to keep it.
LordRaptor
Member
Sure, but you are looking at the television market as a very matured market after decades of manufacturing iterations and the 'big' manufacturers now manufacture those core components precisely because economies of scale made sense for them to vertically integrate.
Like, right now most VR headsets are using mobile phone screens as their displays purely because mobile phone displays are cheap enough and good enough as a result of iterations in the mobile phone sector, but I don't think anyone would suggest that they are the optimal possible type of display that VR would benefit from; that optimal display does not yet exist, because VR as a whole has not been through enough manufacturing iterations or reached a large enough audience that researching, developing and manufacturing an optimal display is cost effective.
Being in 'on the ground floor' for VR means HTC are going to be iterating through manufacturing issues more quickly than others are, and are best poised to start iterative efficiencies of their own.
It doesn't guarantee VR will be a definite 'hit', and it doesn't guarantee that HTC are 'saved', but it also doesn't mean because HTC has no manufacturing interests or copyright protections in the components currently being used to build VR devices, that it is pointless for them to be there at all.
Seems like whoever wrote that article doesn't understand the definition of a partnership.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Foxconn is responsible for the manufacturing of the Vive as well.
Would this guy ever try to claim that the Samsung Gear VR is actually the Oculus Gear VR because the VR software is built by Oculus?
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Foxconn is responsible for the manufacturing of the Vive as well.
Would this guy ever try to claim that the Samsung Gear VR is actually the Oculus Gear VR because the VR software is built by Oculus?
old manatee
Banned
Nice clickbait headline.