Facebook (now Meta) announced Portal devices as a video calling device back in 2018 for both consumer and business customers. It now looks like the company will phase them out as consumer products and instead, shift its focus to its enterprise applications.
According to a report from Variety, Meta will sell all the remaining inventory of previously released models. The company will also continue providing support for existing customers but will make it a more suited product for business and enterprise applications for future releases.
Portal never really became a mainstream smart display device when compared to the likes of Amazon and Google products. According to data from IDC, Meta sold around 600,000 Portal devices in 2020 and 800,000 in 2021. The spike in sales was a result of the pandemic during which business looked for various communicating devices for remote work.
This perhaps compelled Meta to change its focus from consumer to enterprise application for its Portal devices.
Portal"s range of smart devices include the original 10.1 inch Portal, a Portal TV that converts your TV into a smart display, Portal+ which was essentially a bigger version of Portal, Portal Mini, and Portal Go.
Meta currently offers Portal for business that allows any existing Portal device to operate as conference room machines. It also provides support for various third-party calling platforms and connects to their calendars as well.
Source: Variety