• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less

1

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup

2

The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting

3

Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Tech

Facebook Just Cut the Price Of Its Virtual Reality Headset

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 1, 2017, 1:26 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Facebook is dropping the price of its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

The social networking giant said Wednesday that its VR device, which debuted last spring, would now sell for $500 instead of its original $600 price. Facebook (FB) also said it had halved the price of the Rift headset’s accompanying Touch motion controllers from $200 to $100.

The company’s decision to lower the cost of Oculus Rift and Oculus Touch is noteworthy, considering the perception that the high price of headsets is one reason consumers have yet to take to VR en masse. The HTC Vive, for example, sells for $800 with controllers, while Sony’s Playstation VR headset costs $400 and does not include controllers. It should be noted that even with the price drop, people should expect to pay over $1,000 for both the Rift, controllers, and a computer with the minimum requirements to power the headset.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

Oculus co-founder and head of Rift Nate Mitchell told Fortune that the reason for the price drop involved unspecified “improvements” Facebook has apparently made in the manufacturing of the device.

While Mitchell said that the Rift’s “component prices are coming down,” he declined to elaborate on what those components were and how exactly Facebook had managed to lower the cost of building its headsets.

Mitchell reiterated Facebook’s (FB) pitch that the company is “not in this to make money on the hardware,” but rather wants to jumpstart the VR industry through its Rift headset and related Oculus software.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he believes VR is the next big computing platform that he envisions as the future of online interactions.

Still, Facebook isn’t giving away the Rift for free.

“We also don’t want to be losing too much money on this,” said Mitchell. “We want this to be a sustainable business.”

Facebook, like HTC, has not disclosed how many headsets the company has sold, although several analyst firms like SuperData Research have estimated the number at about 355,000 headsets in 2016. Sony said this week that it had sold nearly 1 million of its PlayStation VR headsets since debuting the product in the fall.

And unlike the Vive and the Rift, the PlayStation VR requires its users to own a PlayStation 4 video game console rather than a computer, which costs a minimum of around $500.

“Those are great numbers for them,” Mitchell said regarding Sony’s sales figures. “It basically really demonstrates that there is a high-end market for VR. People are super excited about it.”

But just because Sony has revealed how many headsets it’s sold doesn’t mean we should expect Facebook to anytime soon.

“We don’t share sales figures on hardware or software,” said Mitchell.

In his view, the next big phase for Oculus will be to encourage developers to build high-quality VR games and software that will lead to more people buying the Rift headset.

It’s a big task, considering that several analysts have said that there has yet to be a so-called killer app available that would entice consumers to buy both a headset and a beefy computer.

Even Valve CEO Gabe Newell, whose company makes the software that powers the HTC Vive, has acknowledged the lack of good virtual reality content available. Newell recently told reporters that he “can’t point to a single piece of content that would cause millions of people to justify changing their home computing.”

To help spur more VR content, Facebook has given developers and game publishers hundreds of millions of dollars to build high-quality VR software.

Mitchell reiterated Zuckerberg’s recent comments that Facebook doesn’t plan to stop spending billions of dollars on VR, despite current mainstream consumers’ relative lack of enthusiasm for the technology.

“We’re committed to funding a tremendous amount of content,” said Mitchell.

The Oculus executive conceded that when the Rift first debuted, there was a lack of compelling VR media available. But he said that efforts by Facebook to fund various projects has led to an increase in better content.

For more about Facebook, watch:

However, it’s unclear whether the increase of available VR media since the Rift’s initial introduction has greatly boosted sales.

“I don’t have stats to share offhand,” Mitchell said, when asked if Oculus is currently selling more Rifts than it did when it debuted with a more limited supply of VR media.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
AIRobots
‘Godmother of AI’ and tech entrepreneurs draw investors by pivoting from chatbots to ‘world models’ saying AI has to read the room, not just books
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
1 hour ago
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
North AmericaMedia
‘We are in agony’: Today Show host Savannah Guthrie begs public for help as reports surface her missing 84-year-old mom might be dead
By The Associated PressJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
Commentaryarms, weapons, and defense
Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain
By Chris OberoiJune 24, 2026
2 hours ago
Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
RetailSpaceX
Elon Musk was the world’s first trillionaire for 12 days
By Eva RoytburgJune 24, 2026
3 hours ago
President Donald Trump pictured in September 2025 signing an executive order that overhauled the H-1B visa program.
EconomyImmigration
Trump’s international student crackdown kicked off a domino effect that could shave nearly $500 billion off the economy
By Tristan BoveJune 24, 2026
5 hours ago
How Home Depot is rebuilding retailing with AI
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How Home Depot is rebuilding retailing with AI
By John KellJune 24, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
Success
After forcing workers back to the office, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are now letting their staff work remotely—but only for the World Cup
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
Economy
The Pentagon said Iran War costs $29 billion, but the real cost is closer to $200 billion—and counting
By Jacqueline MunisJune 24, 2026
16 hours ago
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
Retail
Amazon's record Prime Day masks a darker truth: Americans are spending more and getting less
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
8 hours ago
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America 'doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire'
Asia
Ray Dalio just finished a 10-day trip to China. He says global leaders know America 'doesn’t have what it takes to fight to maintain its empire'
By Nick LichtenbergJune 24, 2026
10 hours ago
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 23, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 23, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of gold as of June 23, 2026
By Danny BakstJune 23, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.