UK – HTC Corp Ord (NASDAQ: subsequentHCTXF) just raised the price or their VIVE VR gear in the UK. On Monday, due to Brexit following falling value of the pound, the virtual reality set will get a £70 price pump, for a final price of £756 increasing the price of the most expensive VR headset on the market.
Since the UK’s referendum to leave the European Union succeeded by a narrow 3% margin on June 23, other tech companies are taking into consideration the Sterling’s fragility. Thus, raising prices seems to be a growing trend among big tech companies. However, according to the what is laid by a treaty, any country that wants to leave the European Union has two years to establish the withdrawal agreements. In other words, the UK is still a member of the EU, and as so, the country still enjoys the benefits of one of the biggest singular markets in the world, as long as it pays the weekly fee.
HTC Vive price increase in the UK thanks to Brexit https://t.co/3CTXXN3ULw #HTCVive pic.twitter.com/R6mX6G6AA2
— PCInvasion PC Gaming (@pcinvasion) July 30, 2016
The HTC VIVE team made the announcement on their official blog on Thursday.
“HTC continuously monitors and adjusts pricing to ensure we are providing our customers with the best value possible. Due to recent currency valuation changes and the current value of the GBP we are adjusting the price of the HTC Vive in the UK to £759 + P&P,” the post reads.
Playing VR games can cost a lot
The HTCV Vive and the Oculus Rift are the two flagships VR gear currently up and running. They offer the best experience at the moment but require an appropriate gaming PC to run, armed with discrete Nvidia or AMD graphic cards.
There are other more wallet-friendly VR kits in the stores, albeit with a minor quality, such as the Samsung’s mobile VR Gear. Still, buying a PC accessory for over £800 Sterling, even when it’s the best around, is probably going to be a barrier for many people. In contrast, Oculus Rift will keep its £499 price tag.
More tech companies are likely to do the same
On August 1, both HP and Dell will be pumping their prices across all of their catalogs by a similar 10%. Lenovo is also looking into this alternative. Earlier this month the OnePkus 3 smartphone also went up.
On Friday Uk’s coin suffered their biggest fall against the Euro in the last seven years. By July 28, the pound is worth 1.18 per Euro and 1.3149 per Dollar. Even so, the Sterling has recovered almost 3% since the referendum.
Brexit’s real and long-term economic repercussions are yet unclear, as, under the Lisbon Treaty a country leaving the EU has two years to negotiate the withdrawal agreement. So far, the UK still retains all of the perks of belonging to a single market.
Source: Tech Radar
