HTC establishes separate subsidiary for its Vive VR business

HTC has turned its Vive VR headset business into a separate subsidiary. In a statement issued to Verge, HTC said: "HTC can confirm that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, HTC Vive Tech Corporation, as a vehicle for developing strategic alliances to help build the global VR ecosystem."

In a statement issued to Verge, HTC said: "HTC can confirm that it has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, HTC Vive Tech Corporation, as a vehicle for developing strategic alliances to help build the global VR ecosystem."

Meanwhile, when Engadget reached out to Alvin Wang Graylin, HTC's China regional president of VR, he said the fully-owned subsidiary is already running all of HTC's VR business and that the company has not spun off the business.

The VR headset, currently available for £689 in the UK, went on pre-order on 29 February in several countries worldwide and in less than 10 minutes it sold 15,000 units, a rate of 25 headsets per second, HTC executive Shen Ye revealed through a tweet.

HTC president for global sales Chia-lin Chang said at the company's shareholders meeting that the establishment of the independent VR subsidiary would help HTC build alliances with potential partners.

Chang added that the alliances would help the company enhance its competitiveness, while playing a major role in the global VR market. Considering VR is quite an important technology sector for HTC, it would not be difficult for the company to generate profit from it, he said. The company expects that within a span of 10 years there will be a rapid growth of VR applications in fields such as education, healthcare, shopping and entertainment, said HTC chairperson and chief executive officer Cher Wang.