When should I buy Oculus Rift?

marxkate · Apr 11, 2016

Hi all

I am planning to buy the Oculus Rift for my husband for Christmas, but I don't know a huge amount about it, I must confess! I understand there are some issues going on with shipping dates at the moment, so was just wondering, when should I buy it? Should I preorder it or wait until it has started shipping? I plan to buy direct from the Oculus site.

Thanks!
Kate

jabokai · Apr 11, 2016

If it's for xmas then wait until towards the end of the year. The price will possibly go down and it will also be available with the Touch controllers. Supply issues should be sorted by then. Also by then, there will be a much clearer idea of whether the Vive or the Rift is the better overall buy.

vanfanel · Apr 11, 2016

I probably wouldn't wait any longer than july to preorder considering that new orders today have shifted their shipping date to August. It is incredibly backordered right now and I don't see supply catching up with demand at all for 2016 so I also don't see a price drop coming anytime this year.

jabokai · Apr 12, 2016

Hmm, they'd be nuts (and a rather poor business) if they can't ramp up production in that sort of timescale! They can't do it overnight, but they have 6+ months. Plus they have the touch controllers coming out which they will obviously intend to sell in an all inclusive new package at the very latest for the xmas season. IMHO, of course.

[HJ]-RedRaven · Apr 12, 2016

marxkate - yeah, wait for now, especially if its a Christmas present. Wait and see and buy around October somewhere.

Jabokai - Agree, Palmer should be able to organise additional manufacturing muscle in short weeks (not months). Even for lenses, which I suspect is the slow point... either that or he got far more pre-orders than were expected.

If he spent less money on loud shirts and more on getting the production line sorted, he wouldn't be in this pickle.

cmdr awesome · Apr 12, 2016

With the way the pre orders are going, you probably need to get your order in quick to avoid disappointment at Christmas!

vanfanel · Apr 13, 2016

jabokai said:
Hmm, they'd be nuts (and a rather poor business) if they can't ramp up production in that sort of timescale! They can't do it overnight, but they have 6+ months. Plus they have the touch controllers coming out which they will obviously intend to sell in an all inclusive new package at the very latest for the xmas season. IMHO, of course.

They did say they are ramping up production to meet demand. That's all good and well however I was here during the DK2 release. It took them more than 8 months to get close to keeping up with demand and a turnaround time under a couple weeks. During that launch they also mentioned ramping up production but somehow still couldn't keep up. This launch has also seen delays and the backlog on orders is even greater. I thought with experience they could've avoided this and perhaps the "component shortage" was completely unexpected and threw a monkey wrench in the whole thing. But the fact remains that they haven't even shipped the first 30 minutes of orders and it's been 2 weeks and the backlog of orders is 4+ months and probably growing. At some point they'll catch up but I just don't see that happening in 2016 especially if they plan on launching the touch as well later this year. So I still say that if you want a rift for xmas to order no later than july to be sure.

Insomnia · Apr 13, 2016

Wow very nice Christmas present!! +rep for that

Oogie Boogie · Apr 13, 2016

Probably I would wait until your husband or you can try out the Oculus or even the Vive in some stores close by. Because at the end it is the same philosophical discussion comparable to Apple iPhones vs Samsung Galaxy. But if it is clear that Oculus is the right product, I would order it soon as possible. Because if you husband already is interested in the VR topic, I am sure he will not wait until Xmas and buy it probably before..

P.S. I preordered the Oculus CV1.

Bakkster · Apr 13, 2016

jabokai said:
The price will possibly go down

This year? No way. Not when they're selling it at cost, there's no profit margin to cut into.

jabokai said:
Hmm, they'd be nuts (and a rather poor business) if they can't ramp up production in that sort of timescale! They can't do it overnight, but they have 6+ months.

Depends a lot on components. There are electronic components that take 3 months from the date you order them to arrive on your docks, that lead time might drive Oculus as much as their labor. It's not a simple problem to solve (source: I'm a production test engineer).

That said, we need to see how orders go long-term. Are the current pre-orders 50% of this year's purchases, or 90%? Keeping track of new order shipping estimates is the best bet, and if new estimates reach November that's the time to pull the trigger to give some leeway before Christmas.

shadragon · Apr 13, 2016

jabokai said:
Hmm, they'd be nuts (and a rather poor business) if they can't ramp up production in that sort of timescale! They can't do it overnight, but they have 6+ months. Plus they have the touch controllers coming out which they will obviously intend to sell in an all inclusive new package at the very latest for the xmas season. IMHO, of course.

Creating an artificial gap between production and demand is something Apple does all the time. "Oh look how popular our latest device is, we can barely keep up with demand..."

Production is set to be at a sustainable (and profitable) level. they won't ramp up to produce 100,000 units a day. They'll set it to do 2,000 a day to minimize costs so that ups and down in demand will not create chaos with prioduction. It also lets them avoid storing stacks of boxes in warehouses not to mention charging a premium price because if you don't want it some other guy will.

As for the price drop, I wouldn't count on anything significant for at least a year. Again, demand and they need to cover their dev costs.