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Let’s have a look at enterprise standalone [6DoF] VR hardware options and costs shall we? (from a UK perspective.) There’s 3 main headsets available: Oculus Quest, HTC Vive Focus Plus and PICO Neo 2. All come with headset and two motion tracked input controllers. So far, so good
There’s often confusion at purchasing level, especially with Oculus Quest, as there’s a consumer price and an enterprise price. Consumer price should be ignored becuase consumer devices shouldn’t be used in enterprise organisations. Mainly, warranty becomes void if issues arise.
So looking around, here are the prices* for each headset to buy new, plus ongoing costs associated with annual subscription for enterprise warranty, support, license, MDM etc where relevant. There are a number of caveats for the prices, which I’ll explain below:
*as of 21/8/20
*as of 21/8/20
1. PICO Neo 2 enterprise price isn’t listed on their website, you have to submit an order form. Based upon initial announcement press and finding a reseller (€) website, was able to put GBP converted price. Couldn’t find details of any ongoing costs
2. HTC Vive Focus Plus price comes from US and UK enterprise websites - note $999/£915 is combined cost of $799/£777 for headset plus required Vive Enterprise BWS package at $200/£138. But this gives you TWO years cover/enterprise usage, hence £70 for “annual” column
3. Oculus Quest is $999, which includes 1yr subscription to the MDM and support & warranty etc. There is no specific GBP price, price is calculated at point of order with the UK reseller (Exertis etc). So far we have paid a range from £785-845 depending upon currency fluctuations
4. The GBP price listed in the table is taken from calculations today made on http://xe.com - this is based on market rate, not high-street rate, so the value you actually get is a little worse (i.e. you will pay a bit more). Again, same for annual subscription renewal
5. One thing needed is fixed GBP price for OfB hardware as it’s really hard for organisations to forecast spend, request and allocate future budgets accordingly otherwise. The state of the world (especially UK & US) means currency conversion rates are all over the shop at the mo
6. Vive and PICO allow vendors (like us) to buy hardware for clients and provide them to them without too much ownership hassle or issues. OfB requires the end user (the client) purchases the hardware, which requires them to become customers of OfB, sign-up to Workplace etc
7. This can be a major sticking point for an organisation just starting out, wanting to run a small-scale trial (<100 units) as it means legal, IT, procurement and others all have to get involved to agree to the OfB/Workplace Ts & Cs, EULA etc
So the long and the short of it, PICO is cheapest but once you add additional, required enterprise packages, the costs comparison overall may surprise you. Cost is only one factor though, quality, ongoing support, data privacy & security, ease of dev, deployment all play a part
I obviously welcome corrections and viewpoints where relevant
It goes without saying that when dealing with enterprise organisations, you should always engage with IT and procurement teams/departments as soon as possible as they will be the major blockers to any deployment of any new hardware, especially if have fixed device lists for x-yrs
Finally, happy to talk offline if you have any specific questions, recommendations, queries, concerns etc
