Facebook’s new Oculus Quest virtual reality (VR) headset seems to be a hit with early adopters, causing inventory shortages at a number of retailers. A week after its official launch, the headset was sold out at Amazon, Walmart and Newegg Tuesday.
A Facebook spokesperson acknowledged the inventory issues in a statement sent to Variety: “We’re so glad to see the excitement and interest in Oculus Quest. While some of our retail partners are temporarily out of stock online, we’re working to restore availability in all channels as soon as possible. That said, people can still buy Quest from Oculus.com and from many stores around the world.”
Newegg listed both versions of the Quest (64GB and 128GB) as out of stock Tuesday. Amazon listed the 64GB version as “temporarily unavailable,” but promised to ship the 128GB version within 1-2 months. Walmart listed both models as unavailable for online orders or in-store pickup.
Best Buy promised to ship the headset within a week, but noted on its website that it didn’t have any in-store inventory within 250 miles of either Los Angeles or the an Francisco Bay Area. Facebook’s Oculus.com website seemed unaffected by the stock shortages, and promised to ship either model by early June.
It’s still too early to say what these inventory issues mean for absolute Quest sales numbers, and the impact the device may have on the VR market as a whole. Some retailers may have been conservative in estimating consumer demand for the Quest after experiencing tepid demand for previous headsets. What’s more, first-week sales of the device are likely driven by VR early adopters, and Facebook is expected to sell many more Quest units during the holiday shopping season.
