What you need to know
- Facebook is saying that Oculus Quest production will likely be impacted by the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus.
- The Oculus Quest is now widely expected to be available after February, but no specific timeline is available.
- This is just one of many products and events being delayed due to the Novel Coronavirus outbreak.
If you have been looking forward to getting an Oculus Quest sometime this month, it's highly likely that you might have to wait a bit longer. The elusive standalone VR headset has been on backorder for several months now, and the problem looks like it'll only be getting worse with the spread of the Novel Coronavirus in China. In a statement released to UploadVR, a Facebook spokesperson said that production of the Oculus Quest will likely be affected by the Novel Coronavirus.
Oculus Quest has been selling out in some regions due to high demand. That said, like other companies we're expecting some additional impact to our hardware production due to the Coronavirus. We're taking precautions to ensure the safety of our employees, manufacturing partners and customers, and are monitoring the situation closely. We are working to restore availability as soon as possible.
The Oculus Quest has been selling extremely well according to both Facebook and a number of industry metrics. Just how much this will affect production is unknown. Additional stock of the Oculus Quest was expected just next week, beginning around February 11, but Amazon is now showing February 24 availability for the 64GB version, and no timeline of availability for the 128GB version of the Quest.
The Oculus Quest is now the second major product we've heard that will be experiencing a delay due to production issues in China, directly related to the Coronavirus outbreak. The Coronavirus is also affecting major events, like the annual MWC 2020 conference, which has seen companies like LG, ZTE, and Ericsson pull out of the show over concerns that attending a show with such mass International attendance will further the spread of the virus.
While these announcements are unfortunate for consumers who have been looking forward to new products or product unveilings, it's refreshing to see the companies in question placing the health and safety of their workers over their own profits or plans. The Novel Coronavirus is expected to continue to make a large impact on production as workers stay secluded in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.
