Between high demand and manufacturing interruptions due to the Coronavirus, Oculus Quest and Rift S have been in extremely short supply, often commanding a 150% price premiums (or more) in aftermarket sales. Those looking to pick up an Oculus Quest may not have to wait too much longer; a global stock check by Road to VR indicates that stock for Quest is steadily returning, but Rift S is still facing significant shortages.
Updated – June 3rd, 2020
We checked stock availability for direct purchases from Oculus.com for Quest (64GB), Quest (128GB), and Rift S across all regions where the headsets are sold.
The latest shows that Quest stock has been holding fairly steady; both versions of the headset are available in 20 of 23 regions. Despite an improvement compared to the headset being “unavailable” for purchase not long ago, most regions are backordered by at least a week, though none as significantly as the US and Canada aren’t expected to ship until June 25th and June 30th, respectively.
Rift S stock, which was replenished in all regions in the middle of May, has dwindled to nothing and is currently sold out globally. From our observations it seems like Rift S stock replenishment is more spurious than what we’re seeing with Quest.
See chart for: 5/19/20 | 5/15/20 | 5/13/20 | 5/8/20 | 5/5/20 | 5/4/20 | 5/1/20 | 4/30/20 | 4/29/20 | 4/28/20
Our guess is that that the disparity between Quest and Rift S availability is related to the fact that Quest is manufactured by Oculus while Rift S is manufactured by Lenovo. It may also have to do with Facebook prioritizing Quest production given especially strong demand for the headset.
All things considered, the current situation is a huge improvement over the last few months when it was nearly impossible to order any Oculus headset in any region without resorting to aftermarket sellers charging huge premiums over the MSRP.
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While the Rift S specifically is still struggling to meet demand, there’s now a clear indication that these recent stock infusions are more than just a blip in the overall picture. In addition to Quest being available nearly across the board, we’re also starting to see new stock of the headset pop up at third-party retailers again (though not steadily). Unfortunately we’re still often seeing Quest sold on Amazon at prices much higher than MSRP.
Facebook announced back in early February that it expected the Coronavirus to impact the availability of its headsets. Shortages prompted the company to begin selling refurbished versions of the original Oculus Rift headset which it had discontinued the year prior.
In late April a Facebook spokesperson told us the following:
“We continue to make products available in all channels as quickly as possible for people to buy. As you’ve noted, Quest and Rift S have been intermittently in stock in some channels and regions. No specific estimate to share on future stock expectations, as the situation remains dynamic.”
The spokesperson said that in regions where headsets are out of stock, customers can use the ‘Notify Me’ option on the buy page for each headset to sign up to be alerted to new stock. Notifications will go out in order of sign-up.
According to the New York Times, China—where Oculus headsets are manufactured—has been steadily reopening its factories. “By some measures, China’s economy is getting back on track. By the end of February, most of its factories and mines had reopened, according to a variety of data, cranking out everything from steel to cellphones at a blistering pace through March. Industrial output rebounded to a near-record level,” reports Keith Bradsher, the publication’s Shanghai bureau chief, on April 28th.
Availability of Valve’s Index headset has also been substantially impacted by the Coronavirus, with new orders still backordered by eight weeks or more across the board.
