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200 Oculus Rift demo stations are to be closed at Best Buy stores in the US, according to the Business Insider. The website reports that Facebook ordered the closure of its VR corners due to store performance,” according to an internal memo.
An anonymous Best Buy worker told BI that there’d be some days where I wouldn’t give a demo at all because people didn’t want to.” He added: They didn’t press on selling. Their main thing wasto have us do demonstrations and get people talking about Oculus.”
Oculus communications manager Andrea Schubert then confirmed the news, stating: We’re making some seasonal changes and prioritising demos at hundreds of Best Buy locations in larger markets. You can still request Rift demos at hundreds of Best Buy stores in the US and Canada."
She added: We still believe the best way to learn about VR is through a live demo. We’re going to find opportunities to do regular events and pop ups in retail locations and local communities throughout the year.”
There are currently 500 Best Buy stores offering Oculus Rift demos, following a partnership between the two firms that started in May 2016. The Facebook-owned VR headset sold only 250k units in 2016, a recent report by SuperData revealed.
