But yes, it's unfortunate that Facebook is killing them this way. The good news is that everyone makes a VR headset now, and people are writing VR games, so it will probably be A Thing even without Oculus involved. Innovator's dilemma and all that.
Oh wait, stand-alone. I don’t know about that part. Google discontinued Daydream so that’s out too.
https://enterprise.vive.com/us/product/focus-plus/
Arguably their reasons seem sound because how can they compete against Facebook in the consumer market with such a subsidized headset? Facebook is betting on being able to monetize your FB account and VR usage in a way that HTC can't with just hardware sales and software sales. Given that Quest requires a facebook account, it makes it a non-starter for enterprise/business use cases.
Facebook is poised to crush the rest of the industry. They have the cash, talent, distribution channel and brand to do it.
Innovator's dilemma happens when 1) a low-priced, low-feature startup takes on higher-priced incumbent. High priced incumbent ignores low-priced startup. No one can go lower than FB on pricing
2) Fear of cannibalizations (EV eating Gas-guzzlers for GM, BMW). FB has always let Insta, WhatsApp and Oculus to run like startups with plenty of freedom. Oculus is not a threat to core FB, but an enhancer.
Bottomline, time to load up on FB stocks