Facebook’s Oculus Rift Now Has Hugo Barra to Lead It
Facebook has hired Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra to get its Oculus VR division’s technology and sales improved.
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Technology drives online stock trading to success. With the right trading platform you can have a clear picture of the markets and trade from the comfort of your home. Talent acquisitions are worth following in the tech sector since intelligent guys could turn their company around and make it a force to reckon with. Facebook ($FB) is bringing in celebrated tech executive Hugo Barra to lead the company’s Oculus virtual reality (VR) efforts. There isn’t any particular surprise regarding this, since everyone knows that things have not been plain sailing for Oculus. Illustrious Background of Hugo Barra Hugo Barro was instrumental in developing the hugely successful and widely accepted Android mobile platform for Google ($GOOGL). Barra was most recently employed at Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi, transforming the business into a $45 billion worth company. Barra was the architect behind the spectacular sales of Xiaomi’s Redmi and Mi3 smartphones, and the company lifting itself up to become the world’s 5 th highest selling smartphone manufacturer. While at Xiaomi, Barra managed to convince the market that great technology can be affordable too, and that helped raise the company’s stature. Oculus Rift’s Technology and Pricing Keeping It Behind At Facebook’s VR division though, things are a bit more complicated. The Oculus Rift VR headset is not only expensive but also needs to be connected to a PC. The PC must be upgraded as well. Adding all that up, experiencing virtual reality with Oculus would cost a massive $1500. It’s hardly surprising that sales have been sluggish, especially with rivals Sony ($SNE), Samsung ($SSNLF), HTC ($HTCXF) and others providing more efficient and cost-effective VR solutions. $FB is now developing a VR headset not requiring any PC connection. But the rivals are getting the upper hand in the process. And Apple ($AAPL) could soon be entering the market as well. Time is running out.
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Back in 2014, Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion and saw a world of opportunities. But the road has been rough for the past six months. IDC claims that the combined augmented plus virtual reality market is expected to touch $162 billion by 2020, which is a significant growth from 2016’s $5.2 billion. But Facebook could lose out to competitors on this massive potential unless it acts quickly. It has currently captured only 11% of the market while Sony has 30%. HTC and Samsung have managed 13% each while Google ($GOOGL) with its Daydream owns just 8%. And when Apple enters the market things could get a lot tighter. Zuckerberg Endorses Barra Publicly The social media giant has not only hired Barra, but also made a public announcement of it. This public endorsement helps shift the attention of investors and the buying public back to $FB and Oculus. That strategy might have worked, but now comes the tough part – making Oculus more user-friendly and getting people to actually prefer this over the rival models out there. The price has proved to be the deterring factor. As we mentioned before, the Oculus Rift VR experience could set one back by $1500 along with getting their PC upgraded to support it. Sony’s Playstation VR system costs just around $800 by contrast. And since this is compatible with the older PS4, it’s not necessary for users to upgrade. They can get the experience for just $500. That’s what Facebook needs to work around, and Barra is the right person to do it. Look for some headline Oculus announcements in the days to come!
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