Highlights:

  • The firm is looking for means to boost its revenue and is, therefore, prioritizing some projects over others.
  • Meta is also cancelling the first version of its smartwatch.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is reportedly walking back on its plan to release its first set of Augmented Reality (AR) glasses. Reports suggest that the firm is also pivoting its Portal smart display device away from the consumer market.

The glasses were codenamed Project Nazare. Meta originally planned to launch the first version of Nazare in 2024 but, according to the report, the company notified its employees that it would not be moving ahead with the commercial release of the AR glasses as it wants to cut back on heavy investments in its Reality Labs and AR/VR.

Instead, it plans to use the first version of the AR glasses as demonstration products only and will be pivoting its software team to build a software development kit that will help developers build apps for Meta glasses.

A person close to the development reportedly said that Meta is now planning to prioritize the release of its second version of AR glasses, Artemis. However, it has not been specified when the second version of the AR glasses would be market-ready.

The need for better revenue growth led to a change of plans

With Meta dealing with slow revenue growth, it has tried to scale back AR/VR projects and new product plans. However, the company has seen a boost in sales in the Portal family of smart displays during the pandemic. This has led Meta to reposition the Portal family of smart displays as a business device. According to the report, Meta will not be releasing any other consumer-oriented Portal device.

Since its launch in 2018, the growth of the Portal has been rather bumpy. It failed to gain any remarkable traction in the smart display market. But Meta is now promoting the Portal as a tool for hybrid work, a move that is in line with its decision to market the Portal as a business product. The two newest Portal devices are compatible with Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

The release of the Meta smartwatch was also cancelled

Reports also suggest that Meta is also cancelling its much-awaited smartwatch, codenamed Milan. The smartwatch was designed to have two cameras, but one was on the back of the watch, and it is speculated that design difficulties led to the smartwatch release’s cancellation. Meta is also planning to release two other versions of the watch, codenamed Kyoto and Paris, over the coming years, but it is unclear whether these have been scrapped as well.