Meta will no longer release Portal devices to consumers, according to The Information and Variety. The company is reportedly repositioning its smart display and home video line as a business product and discontinuing current consumer versions. Variety says Meta will sell all remaining inventory of previously released models and continue to provide support to existing customers, but will focus on business applications for future releases. Portal never sold as well as Amazon and Google’s smart display devices, but it enjoyed a surge in sales after pandemic lockdowns forced companies to let their employees work from home.
According to research firm IDC, Meta sold 600,000 Portal devices in 2020 and 800,000 in 2021 as companies looked for solutions to make it easier to communicate with remote workers. Perhaps it was the knowledge that it was enterprise customers that boosted sales of the devices over the past two years that forced Meta to change the focus of the product line. We’ll just have to wait and see how Business Portals differ from their consumer counterparts. Meta has released several versions of Portal in the past, including the Portal TV, which turns televisions into large smart screens, and the Portal Go, which can be removed from the charging dock and moved.
In addition to killing consumer portals, Meta has also reportedly shelved plans for its long-rumored dual-camera smartwatch. Previous reports suggested it would become a competitor to Apple, but Meta has apparently decided to focus on developing other wearables for now.
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