Samsung’s Vice President of Emerging Platforms Mihai Pohontu stated that virtual reality technology is already a profitable business endeavor for the South Korean consumer electronics manufacturer. During an interview conducted in light of the upcoming Samsung Developer Conference in San Francisco, Pohontu stated that the company is not only making money from the sales of its recently launched Samsung Gear VR headset but is also quite happy with the positive correlation between its sales and the amount of sold Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge smartphones which came bundled with a free Gear VR and some games. In this particular case, Pohontu firmly believes that correlation implies causation and that the company’s headset and VR games wouldn’t be selling as well if Samsung didn’t give away quite a few of them to their existing customers who paid for a premium mobile device.
“We’re happy to say that VR as a standalone technology continues to be a focus for the company,” stated Pohontu, adding that Samsung is and will continue to heavily invest in products and services related to virtual and augmented reality. All in all, there’s no doubt that there are some exciting years ahead of all technology enthusiasts and gamers. Among other things, Microsoft recently confirmed that it’s working on a Samsung Gear VR version of Minecraft and Oculus developed a bunch of new social features for Samsung’s headset, i.e. its version of the Oculus Social app. Specifically, the app now allows users to create virtual rooms in which they can socialize and enjoy online content.
More VR-related announcements are soon expected to follow from Samsung as its two-day Developer Conference in San Francisco is starting tomorrow and will be attended by over 5,000 developers. Even though Pohontu didn’t talk about specific numbers, it seems like Samsung’s strategy of investing in VR technology aimed at regular consumers who aren’t looking to spend a large amount on something like the HTC Vive headset but are still open towards new gadgets is starting to pay off. Between the Gear VR headset and the Samsung Gear 360 camera, it’s to be expected that the South Korean company will soon definitely be considered as one of the top dogs in the VR industry – if it isn’t already.