Update 04/13/2016: Oculus has reached out to us with a statement:
“The component shortage impacted our quantities more than we expected, and we’ve updated the shipment window to reflect these changes. We apologize for the delay.
We’re delivering Rifts to customers every day, and we’re focused on getting Rifts out the door as fast as we can. We’ve taken steps to address the component shortage, and we’ll continue shipping in higher volumes each week. We’ve also increased our manufacturing capacity to allow us to deliver in higher quantities, faster. Many Rifts will ship less than four weeks from original estimates, and we hope to beat the new estimates we’ve provided.”
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It looks like even those who placed their orders within minutes of Oculus pre-orders going live might not get their hands on the Rift in April.
Some pre-order holders are reportedly discovering that their Oculus shipments have been pushed back, in some cases by multiple months. With Facebook’s annual F8 conference set to kickoff today, the company sent out an email regarding the headset’s shipping issues. The statement expands the shipping window for when pre-order holders can expect to receive their device.
The email reads as follows:
We’ve updated your Order History with a new shipment window for your Rift.
This window may be later than your original estimate, due to the early component shortage.
As a reminder, we’ll send you an email when we charge the payment method on file for your purchase and prepare your shipment. We’ll also cover all shipping and handling costs for orders placed through 11:59 PDT on April 1, 2016.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to the Oculus Support team if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting the future of virtual reality.
As a way to appease frustrated customers, Oculus says it will cover shipping for Oculus purchasers who have had their orders delayed. While not a major delay, the delayed shipments have struck a chord with some passionate Oculus owners on Reddit, where a thread with almost 2,500 comments discussing the situation continues to grow.
It’s unclear what is causing the Rift’s shipping delays but it’s likely that Facebook can’t keep up with demand for the device; the company still hasn’t revealed sales statistics regarding Oculus shipments.
Oculus also recently delayed the release of its motion-based Touch controllers to the second half of 2016.
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