A smart camera, Amazon Alexa, video calling services, and other features could be accessed quickly with Portal devices, which Meta first introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, this market never really took off, and in June 2022, we learned that Meta is repositioning Portal devices as enterprise hardware as opposed to something intended for common consumers. Five months later, it seems as though Meta is completely ruining the company.
According to Reuters, Meta has decided to end operations for its Portal smart display business and scale back its smartwatch project as well. This information comes after the business announced its largest layoffs this week, affecting 11,000 workers, or roughly 13% of its workforce.
It is not surprising to see Meta cutting back on spending and effort on products that aren’t making much, if any, money, given the layoffs and the ongoing economic downturn. The company will concentrate on “high priority growth areas,” like the metaverse, its AI discovery business, and its ad platform, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
It is clear that the cost of capital expenditure did not include Portal devices. For a while now, there have also been rumours about Meta’s smartwatch. There isn’t much information available about the wearable, and given that Meta is winding down investment in this area as well, it seems that there won’t be much more in the future. Similar news was reported back in June, and the most recent information just seems to confirm what was previously reported. It wouldn’t be shocking to learn that it is the upcoming project to be shelved.
