Meta will no longer launch Consumer Portal devices, according to The Information and Variety. The company is reportedly repositioning the smart display and home video line as a commercial product and is disrupting current consumer versions. Variety says Meta will sell all remaining inventory of previously released models and continue to support existing customers, but will focus on business applications for future releases. Portal has never sold as well as Amazon’s and Google’s smart display devices, but has seen an increase in sales after pandemic blockades 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 sought solutions to facilitate communication with remote workers. Perhaps it was the knowledge that it was business customers who gave a boost to device sales over the past two years that forced Meta to change the focus of its product line. We’ll just have to wait and see how business portals differ from their consumer counterparts. Meta launched several versions of Portal in the past, including Portal TV, which turns TVs into big smart screens, and Portal Go, which can be removed from its charging base and moved.
In addition to eliminating consumer portals, Meta has also set aside plans for its long-rumored dual-camera smartwatch. Earlier reports suggested it would be a competitor to Apple, but Meta appears to have decided to focus on developing other wearables for the time being.
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