Facebook’s foray into hardware offerings was short-lived. As reported by the American media The Verge, the company has completed the development of its range of Portal smart displays. Marketed since 2018, they had initially been the subject of important corporate communication campaigns. But despite the various lockdowns, they have never been able to prevail, despite highlighting video conferencing features.
All for the metaverse
As The Verge recalls, the abandonment of this range is part of the unprecedented crisis that the Meta group, parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, is going through, which has just announced the loss of 11,000 jobs. The company, whose valuation has fallen 66% since the start of the year, faces fierce competition from TikTok, as well as a halving of year-on-year profits in the third quarter of 2022.
According to the IDC firm, Facebook sold 800,000 screens of its Portal range in 2021. A figure that is far from being anecdotal, but that does not seem to correspond to the expectations of the group. Among the main failures of Portal is the obligation to go through the Facebook ecosystem (Messenger or WhatsApp) to reach loved ones, but also the need for the two correspondents to have a Portal screen to take advantage of the experience promised by Facebook .
Also according to The Verge, Facebook is also abandoning the development of connected watches, which until then were expected by 2023. The group continues to focus most of its strategy on the development of its “metaverse”, a 3D or virtual reality video game . offering the possibility of playing, communicating or working virtually. Facebook, which, like Portal, has launched a large communication campaign in its “metaverse”, currently injects it with a billion dollars a month.
Source: BFM TV
