HTC and Virtual Reality

1. What are HTC's competitive advantages and disadvantages in VR in 2017?

Advantages
 New, lower-priced VIVE Standalone would expand VR beyond the early-adopter
heavy gamers and technology enthusiasts
 Attract new customers to VR, such as the casual user focused on entertainment,
education, and social experiences
 HTC was a pioneer in smartphones and the first mover with Android which gave
them an added advantage
 Partnership with Google in 2017 which gave added advantage
 HTC’s flat, fast- paced, entrepreneurial culture was an advantage in such a rapidly
changing market
 HTC had an advantage due to its strength in engineering, history of integrating
hardware and software, and problem-solving prowess
 Distinctive features in VIVE HMD like tracking system, chaperone safety system
Disadvantages
 challenges were that competition was heating up, and VR sales, in general, were
off to a slow start
 HTC did not have deep enough pockets to win a war of attrition with Facebook,
Sony, and others.
 The biggest challenge remained how to get AAA content for VR, in general, and
VIVE, in particular

2. Should HTC focus primarily on hardware, software platform, content, or a

combination (explain which combination)? Why?
HTC should focus on a combination of hardware, software platform and content to give a
full on quality experience to its users. HTC is looking forward to building a brand name
in the VR segment and not focusing on any of the given aspect maybe be counter
productive. Customers are expecting quality content along with the hardware. Finding
sufficient VR content was a challenge for consumers. Availability of quality VR content was as
important as quality hardware. “In VR, hardware and software are like teeth and lips. You
need both to speak.”
Exhibit 11 shows that HTC has clear advantage than its competitors in terms of preference
of being developed, gaming device and planning exclusive content for.
HTC should “encourage developers to forgo the exclusivity check and to develop cross -
platform.” HTC encouraged developers to build content for VIVE first so that VIVE would
become a reference platform. Companies were already using VIVE for a variety of
applications. Breton scouted for new VR content, as well as looking for opportunities to
turn existing apps and games, such as Bethesda’s Fallout 4, into VR content. Adding a
multiple-device purchasing option and a dedicated customer support line will appeal to
enterprises. It differentiates HTC VIVE in yet another way from Oculus Rift, which doesn’t
offer business-specific features. HTC also had partnered with a leader in 3D design, Dassault
Systems, to enable businesses to apply VR to design, science, manufacturing, marketing, and
urban planning. VIVEPORT would allow the company to collect and aggregate enormous
usage data, which they could leverage to determine where to invest and further build out
the ecosystem. Insight from the data had strategic value that was not to be underestimated.
The HTC team also worried that consumers’ poor experience with the less-immersive, low-
quality mobile VR could diminish broader interest in VR. Thus, a combination of them must
be provided to attain overall quality.