VR headsets greatly benefit from a higher resolution. Even the 2K display on the late model Samsung phones produce low resolution when paired with a Gear VR. Supposedly this won't be resolved until 8k or even 16k mobile displays.
Its not an $80 VR headset. The thing that goes around your head is $80, but the expensive part is that phone which you put in the front, which needs a 1440p display (minimum) to avoid the screen-door effect.
If we reject the $80 VR thing lets make it $880 or so, including the cost of a phone. That's still a lot less than the ~$3000 it costs to get a legitimate VR headset plus a gaming PC. Add onto that the fact that virtually everyone is going to own a smartphone anyway, and you can basically eliminate the cost of the phone in there. It's definitely value VR.
Agreed, the only other item that reaches the phone VR price point is Sony's Playstation VR (PSVR).
Oculus Rift OC1 and HTC vive is still targeted to developers and high end PC users. The price point is still too high for general consumers when the PC cost is factored in.
Mobile has to lead the way, which Samsung and Oculus did very successfuly with GearVR.
Cardboard was seen as a gimmick and now it has graduated to become a daydream.
