HTC announced a $200 price cut for its Vive VR headset, “making the best VR system more accessible to the mass market, across the globe”, as it was said the company was losing share in the Chinese VR market.

In a statement, the struggling smartphone maker said it was now offering Vive for $599, with a trial Viveport content subscription covering up to five titles per month. Earlier this year, rival Facebook took $200 off its Oculus Rift bundles, taking it to $399 for a “limited time”, although so far the price has not gone back up.

Cher Wang, chairwoman of HTC, said: “Our goal at Vive has always been to offer the best and most advanced VR system and drive mass market adoption for VR across the globe. We’re continuing to deliver on that commitment with this new price for Vive, making VR more accessible to a broader audience and driving the entire VR industry forward.”

Of course, both Vive and Oculus have been in the market for some time now, meaning the early-adopter market is pretty much exhausted and a more mainstream price is likely to open the product to new buyers. HTC does not provide metrics for Vive.

Research company Canalys said HTC’s Vive shipments of 14,000 units in the important Chinese market during Q2 2017 was down 6 per cent sequentially, in a market which grew 25 per cent. The company was also displaced in number one spot by DPVR, a company which offers a number of products, whereas HTC only has Vive.

Analyst Jason Low said despite price cuts, the current Vive system poses “many challenges” for both consumers and businesses, due to its complexity and the need for VR-ready PCs.

“HTC will regain its top position in China if it produces an appealing standalone headset that is affordable yet capable of providing new use cases for both businesses and consumers,” he said.