Meta is planning to stop selling its Portal video devices direct to consumers soon, instead focusing on selling direct to businesses for use in conference calling scenarios. This new strategy was reported earlier this week by The Information and comes from some investor concerns regarding the amount of money the company has invested in new hardware projects that haven’t actually paid off yet.
Meta announced the Portal devices back in 2018 and has since grown to four products with Portal TV, Plus, 10″ and Go. The company originally had two devices and it was pitched as an easy way to video call with family and friends, using the Facebook owned WhatsApp. There are other apps such as Spotify and the Food Network, but given the connection with Facebook, many people didn’t want to purchase it – especially as it has a camera.
Meta has apparently sold around 800,000 Portal devices in 2021, according to research firm IDC. If this is actuate, it would amount to less than 1% of all smart speakers and smart displays sold worldwide.
