Exactly one year ago, HTC announced its Vive virtual reality system at MWC, and today you can finally pre-order one for yourself.
Since it was announced, the Vive has been demoed to both the media and the public at various trade shows and public events and has gone through a number of iterations. At CES, we were able to try out the updated Pre developer edition that included a large number of improvements across the board (headset, controllers and tracking system). It also incorporated some software improvements and a front-facing camera for additional mixed-reality functionality.
Then last week at MWC, we got a chance to look at the final consumer version of the Vive, the unit that you can pre-order today, and it included some additional small refinements. What was also announced last week was the date it could be pre-ordered (today), the two games that will be included (Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption), the price in U.S. ($799), and that it would start shipping April 5. What was not shared was the pricing for the twenty-three other countries it would be available in, and HTC announced that information just yesterday.
The chart below lays out the pricing for the Vive in every country in which it can be ordered, and we have also included the shipping costs as listed on HTC’s pre-order page for each country. Of note, the U.S. and Canadian prices do not include applicable sales tax, whereas the other prices do (such as European VAT).
HTC Vive Pricing
| Country | Price & Shipping |
|---|---|
| U.S. | $799.00 (sales tax not included)Shipping: $30.00 |
| Australia | US $817.27Shipping: US $110 (shipping starts May 2016) |
| Canada | CDN $1,149.00 (sales tax not included)Shipping: CDN $65.00 |
| China | RMB ¥6,888.00 (¥1,500 order deposit)Shipping: ¥0.00 |
| Taiwan | NT $28,288 ($6,000 order deposit)Shipping: NT $0.00 |
| Japan | US $906.48Shipping: US $90.00 |
| United Kingdom | £689.00Shipping: £57.60 |
| New Zealand | US $825.22Shipping: US $120.00 (shipping starts May 2016) |
| Austria | €899.00Shipping: €61.20 |
| Belgium | €899.00Shipping: €73.81 |
| Czech Republic | €899.00Shipping: €61.71 |
| Denmark | €899.00Shipping: €91.25 |
| Finland | €899.00Shipping: €90.52 |
| France | €899.00Shipping: €73.20 |
| Germany | €899.00Shipping: €60.69 |
| Iceland | €899.00Shipping: €96.00 |
| Ireland | €899.00Shipping: €75.03 |
| Italy | €899.00Shipping: €74.42 |
| Netherlands | €899.00Shipping: €73.81 |
| Norway | €899.00Shipping: €74.00 |
| Poland | €899.00Shipping: €72.57 |
| Spain | €899.00Shipping: €88.33 |
| Sweden | €899.00Shipping: €91.25 |
| Switzerland | €899.00Shipping: €74.00 |
What is a little odd is that some countries still have the pricing shown in USD (Australia, New Zealand and Japan) when you go to pre-order it on HTC’s website, instead of their respective local currencies. Also of note, shipments to Australia and New Zealand start a month later, in May.
The HTC Vive comes with the Vive headset, two wireless controllers, two base stations (for tracking), a link box, earbud headphones and “Vive accessories.” We’ll need to find out exactly what these “accessories” are, but we assume it refers to the various cables and power adapters included. As I mentioned before, the Vive comes with the games Job Simulator and Fantastic Contraption, but now a third “game” is included: HTC announced yesterday that Google’s VR painting application Tilt Brush also comes free with your pre-order.
Update, 2/29/2016, 9:50 a.m. PST: Shipping costs listed above are for 2-day delivery.
Alex Davies is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware and Tom's IT Pro, covering Smartphones, Tablets, and Virtual Reality. You can follow him on Twitter. Follow Tom's Hardware on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.