Oculus takes on Fitbit exec as new COO

Oculus has a new COO in the form of former Fitbit COO Hans Hartmann.

Brendan Iribe, CEO for the VR headset maker, tweeted that Hartmann “brings decades of hardware, manufacturing and supply chain experience to Oculus” from the fitness technology firm.

The company has recently been under fire for failing to deliver on Oculus Rift pre-orders since the device launched last month, with Iribe publically apologising for the “unexpected component shortage” behind the supply issues.

Hartmann replaces founding COO Laird Malamed, who is relocating to Oculus’ Seattle office to serve as VP and GM.

“Hans joins Oculus at an incredible time as we grow out of our startup roots and into a global company,” Malamed posted on Facebook. “For more than a year, Brendan and I have been searching for the right COO with deep hardware and operations experience to lead our next phase, and I’m excited about everything that Hans brings to Oculus.”

He added: “We can safely say that ‘Day 0’ is complete, and we at Oculus are well into Day 1 and beyond as I continue to focus on the growth of Oculus as part of the leadership team.”

I'm excited to welcome our new COO Hans Hartmann! He brings decades of hardware, manufacturing and supply chain experience to Oculus.

— Brendan Iribe (@brendaniribe) May 4, 2016