Meta to Shutdown Portal and Two Unreleased Smartwatch Projects After Cutting 11,000 Jobs in the Company

Inno Flores, Tech Times 11 November 2022, 08:11 pm

Meta will be discontinuing its video calling smart display Portal and its two unreleased projects for Smartwatches. The decision was made after cutting jobs for almost 11,000, which include divisions in tech.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 29: In this photo illustration, three screens display the splash page for the Meta page on the facebook website on October 29, 2021 in London, England. The Facebook company, which owns Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram, has announced that it is rebranding, changing it's name to "Meta".

Portal and Smartwatch Shutdown

After four years of being on the market, Meta will be shutting down its video calling smart display Portal. Based on a report from Reuters, the unreleased project of the company for its supposedly upcoming smartwatches is also included in the said shutdown.

These decisions were made by the executives of the company, who confirmed at a town hall meeting, as Meta laid off about 13 percent of its workforce this week, including the team behind the discontinued devices.

The layoffs resulted in terminating a total of 11,000 employees, as per The Verge. This is the first and biggest layoff in Meta's 18-year history. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is one of the chiefs who addressed the situation but as per the report, no questions were taken by the CEO to answer.

Last June, The Information reported that Meta stopped producing Portal devices for consumers as the company shifts its purpose to conference calling and assumes that the devices will now be used for business purposes only.

Aside from this, this decision comes as it reassesses its plans against concerns from investors regarding the billion-funded projects that are not reflected to its sales.

For the project codename "Milan", this was expected to debut in 2023 with a retail price of $349. It features two built-in cameras made for video calls. But obviously, this will also be discontinued along with the two smartwatches that were currently in development (early-stage in middle-stage).

Also Read: Meta's Portal Presents New Features for PC and Mac Users

Portal's History

Based on a report from Liliputing, 2018 when Meta (then, Facebook) released its first Portal products. These devices were launched as the company ventured new market, similar to the Amazon Echo Show device that has a voice assistant named "Alexa".

Before phasing out Portal to consumers in June, the company released several generations for its Portal devices and these include Portal Plus, Portal 2nd Generation, Portal Mini, Portal TV, Portal Go, and Portal+.

As per the report, this was not a surprise as Meta and Facebook's bread and butter is social interaction, knowing that the company has Facebook Messenger which also has a video call feature. Aside from this, the product line has not gained attention that much compared to its competitors.

This might also be a part of the company's plan to reduce costs as Meta refocuses its vision on virtual reality technologies and other components of Metaverse.

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Written by Inno Flores