While an increasing demand emerges, Coronavirus interrupted manufacturing, leaving Quest and Rift S in poor supply. Anybody who is waiting to lay their hands on an Oculus Quest may not have to wait much longer because it seems like the stock for Quest is globally refilling. However, the same cannot be said about the Rift S. The stock of Rift S looked steady in the middle of May but is now sold out globally. Meanwhile, the Quest stock is pretty balanced and both versions of the headset are available.
The matters that stand out and point at the reason behind the imbalance between the availability of Quest and Rift S is that Oculus manufactures Quest while Lenovo develops Rift S. Or, it could also trace back to the idea that Facebook prioritises the production of Quest due to the headset’s heavy demand.
Considering everything, the present scenario is a massive improvement over the past few months. It became almost unimaginable to order any Oculus headset anywhere without the aftermarket sellers who charge large premiums over the MSRP.
It seems like the Rift S has not yet been able to overcome their struggle to meet the increased demand, but it seems that the past stock infusions are little more than tiny bits of the bigger picture. While Quest can be seen to be available almost throughout, there is also a new stock of the headset appearing at the third-party retailers, although not at a steady pace. On the other hand, you can see Quest being sold on e-commerce sites at prices way higher than the MSRP.
Back at the start of February, Facebook had declared that they expected the COVID-19 crisis to hit the availability of its headsets. Due to lack in supply, they were bound to sell refurbished versions of the original Oculus Rift headsets; something the company had stopped doing a year ago.
According to a Facebook spokesperson, they are working on making products available constantly in all channels and are working as swiftly as possible so that more people can buy. As you will see, both Quest and Rift S have been available in intervals in some areas. With the situation unstable, no certain stock fulfilment can be expected.
The spokesperson added that in areas where headsets have run out of stock, people can use the ‘Notify Me’ option on the product buying page for every headset. In that way, customers will be alerted of the new stock.
As per the information published by the New York Times, the place of Oculus headset manufacturing, which is China, has been reopening its industries. The country’s economy is rapidly pulling itself together. By the end of February, the majority of the industries and mines resumed their work. The publication’s Shanghai bureau chief, Keith Bradsher, reported on 28th April that the pace at which factories were manufacturing throughout March, from cellphones to steel, the industrial output jumped back to almost-record level.
