If you watched his presentation earlier this year, you would understand that the partnership and gaining credibility with samsung is crucial in getting them to allow Oculus code/customizations on standard hardware. This is a good faith business partnership - Oculus spends time to make the Samsung Gear VR, Samsung opens up and helps them get to 1.0 consumer edition on the Rift.
Wasn't the point of the Facebook acquisition that they wouldn't need these types of tit-for-tat partnerships anymore? They're supposed to have unlimited bank now and be able to buy and produce the necessary hardware without having to kowtow to Samsung or other hardware partners. I understand that this type of partnership may make things cheaper even if they're owned by Facebook, but is it really worthwhile to take your eye off the ball if you don't have to?
They were never supposed to have an unlimited bank. Spending $500 million on manufacturing is still a very, very big deal for a company the size of Oculus.
There are very few companies on earth that can make the displays Oculus needs, and make them affordable. Manufacturing their own, or paying someone else to get up to speed on doing so, would cost an incredibly painful sum. $500 million still doesn't get you the displays they need without a company like Samsung behind it.
If you want the displays to be $100 or $150 of the total cost of the hardware, there are only two or three companies that can do it.
The other sibling comments touch on it, but I think the key takeaway is that they're still working with their intended hardware, with their intended hardware supplier. With a GearVR today, or the 1.0 consumer edition Rift in the future.
