Off to a fast start

It's going to take some time to see if all the early hype surrounding today's virtual reality technologies turns into something lasting, but there's a ready audience willing to gamble it will.

HTC revealed on Twitter on that it sold 15,000 of its Vive VR bundles in the first 10 minutes of being available to pre-order. At $800 for each bundle plus shipping charges, HTC processed more than $12 million right off the bat. It's not known how many additional orders were placed and processed since then.

Vive is HTC's take on the VR scene that's captured the imagination of consumers and developers alike. While VR isn't new by any means, excitement for the category hit a fever pitch after Oculus took its Rift Headset to Kickstarter around three and a half years ago.

Where things go from here will depend on how well the Vive and Rift are received. Both devices consist of specialized head gear outfitted with sensors and cameras that you wear over your eyes. They both also must be tethered to a reasonably powerful PC, which adds to the cost of entry.

Facebook-owned Oculus beat HTC to the pre-order punch by offering up its Rft headset for pre-sale in the first week of January for $599. Oculus hasn't shared any shipment figures, but the first batch of those pre-orders, which will ship on March 28, sold out in a matter of minutes.

The Vive is more expensive at $799, but it also comes with dual controllers and two room sensors. Initial pre-orders for the Vive are scheduled to ship in April, with new orders now showing a shipping estimate of May.

These early sales show that there's considerable interest in VR, even at early-adopter price points.

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