Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
This was a November 2022 retrenchment, not a new 2026 shutdown. Meta announced on November 9, 2022, that it would eliminate more than 11,000 jobs—about 13% of its workforce. Around the same time, contemporary reporting said the company was winding down its consumer Portal hardware strategy and canceling two smartwatch projects that had never reached stores. Meta officially confirmed the layoffs; the smartwatch cancellations and Portal decision were reported separately.
What Meta actually announced
In its November 9, 2022 employee announcement, Meta said more than 11,000 people would lose their jobs. The reduction covered both its Family of Apps and Reality Labs organizations. Meta also extended a hiring freeze through the first quarter of 2023, reduced discretionary spending, reviewed its real-estate footprint and infrastructure costs, and acknowledged that it had overestimated post-pandemic growth.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg attributed the reset to weaker-than-expected revenue growth, the broader economic downturn, increased competition and the loss of advertising signals following privacy changes. The cuts were company-wide—not a headcount reduction caused solely by failed hardware projects.
Portal was a consumer strategy, not one discontinued model
Facebook launched Portal in 2018 as a video-calling smart display. The family later included Portal, Portal+, Portal Mini, Portal TV and portable versions, with Meta promoting Messenger calls, WhatsApp, room-filling cameras and productivity features. Meta’s Portal newsroom archive still showed product activity as recently as August 2022.
#1 Best Overall
- A more natural connection. Smart Camera adjusts automatically so you can move freely and stay in frame, while Smart Sound ensures you can easily be heard.
- Call anyone, anywhere. Use apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- Designed for the home. With a sleek picture frame design, quick setup and intuitive voice and touchscreen controls, Portal fits easily and seamlessly into your home.
- Privacy by design. Easily disable the camera and microphone, or block the lens with the camera cover.
The November 2022 decision was therefore broader than retiring a single model. Contemporary reports said Meta was ending or winding down Portal’s consumer hardware business. Reporting also indicated that the company had considered shifting Portal toward business and conference-room use. That does not mean every existing unit became unusable overnight: ending new consumer development, stopping production, ending sales and terminating cloud support are separate actions, and the available announcement did not establish an immediate service cutoff for owners.
Why Portal struggled to stand out
- Crowded category: Amazon’s Echo Show and Google’s Nest-oriented products already occupied the smart-display market.
- Limited differentiation: Portal’s central benefit—video calling—was also available on phones, tablets, computers and competing displays.
- Privacy friction: A camera and microphone intended to remain in a living space created understandable trust concerns for a Meta product.
- Weaker ecosystem leverage: Amazon and Google could connect displays to extensive smart-home and assistant ecosystems, while Meta had less control over household hardware.
Contemporary coverage characterized consumer attention and demand as insufficient to justify continued investment, but no authoritative lifetime-sales figure was established in the cited material.
Rank #2
- Scale up your greatest conversations. Smart video calling on your TV brings your favorite people, larger-than-life, into your living room.
- Share the room. Perfect for group calls. Meta Portal TV captures your whole room so everyone is in view without jostling for position.
- Call anyone, anywhere. Use apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- A more natural connection. Smart Camera adjusts automatically so you can move freely and stay in frame, while Smart Sound ensures you can be heard clearly.
- Privacy by design. Easily disable the camera and microphone, or block the lens with the camera cover.
What happened to the two smartwatches?
Reuters and other contemporary outlets reported that Meta canceled two smartwatch programs still in development. Neither became a commercial product. The projects were reportedly reviewed as Meta reduced costs and narrowed Reality Labs’ priorities.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsOne reported prototype was associated with an ambitious camera-equipped design, including a removable or detachable camera concept intended to support video calls and other uses. Those were development-stage reports, not final specifications. Meta did not publicly confirm a definitive camera layout, operating system, price, compatibility list or launch date for either watch. Details such as the codename “Milan” or a projected $349 price should not be treated as retail facts.
Rank #3
- Feel close, wherever you roam. With the best of Meta Portal smart video calling made portable, you can take the conversation anywhere in your home.
- Designed for calls on the go. A long-lasting battery and integrated handle make it easy to move from room to room.
- Call anyone, anywhere. Use apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- A more natural connection. Smart Camera adjusts automatically so you can move freely and stay in frame, while Smart Sound ensures you can always be heard.
- Great sound anywhere. Listen to music with a speaker that can fill any room. Doubles as a portable Bluetooth speaker around the home.
Most importantly, Meta’s public layoff memo did not provide a detailed announcement of the smartwatch cancellations. The safe distinction is: Meta confirmed the workforce reduction; contemporary reporting described the two canceled watch programs.
Did the layoffs cause the cancellations?
The timing strongly places the Portal and smartwatch decisions inside the same cost-cutting and prioritization period, but the public record does not prove a one-to-one causal chain. Meta said it was moving resources toward a smaller number of high-priority growth areas. Reality Labs was affected by the restructuring, yet it was not shut down.
Rank #4
- A more natural connection. Smart Camera adjusts automatically so you can move freely and stay in frame, while Smart Sound ensures you can easily be heard.
- Call anyone, anywhere. Use apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- Designed for the home. With a sleek picture frame design, quick setup and intuitive voice and touchscreen controls, Meta Portal fits easily and seamlessly into your home.
- Privacy by design. Easily disable the camera and microphone, or block the lens with the camera cover.
Meta’s later 2022 financial release recorded approximately 11,000 affected employees across Family of Apps and Reality Labs and described facilities consolidation, personnel reductions and project cancellations. It did not publish a full account of the two smartwatch programs. “Canceled amid the restructuring” is therefore more accurate than “canceled because the layoffs forced Meta to do so.”
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
A timeline of the retrenchment
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Facebook launches Portal video-calling hardware. |
| 2020–2022 | Meta expands the Portal family and adds collaboration and calling features. |
| August 10, 2022 | Meta’s newsroom lists new Portal productivity activity. |
| November 9, 2022 | Meta announces more than 11,000 job cuts, about 13% of its workforce, plus a Q1 2023 hiring freeze. |
| November 2022 | Reports emerge that the consumer Portal strategy and two unreleased smartwatch projects are being ended. |
| March 14, 2023 | Meta announces another planned reduction of about 10,000 employees and the closure of approximately 5,000 open roles under its “Year of Efficiency.” |
What Meta did not abandon
This was a selective hardware retreat, not Meta’s withdrawal from devices or wearables. The company continued investing in Quest virtual-reality headsets, Reality Labs research, augmented-reality concepts, Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses and longer-term metaverse infrastructure. The cancellations signaled a higher bar for consumer products without a clear route to scale, while strategic platforms received priority.
Best Value
- Build relationships at work and home. Messenger and WhatsApp put you just one tap away from friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- A more natural connection. Smart Camera adjusts automatically so you can move freely and stay in frame, while Smart Sound ensures you can always be heard.
- Call anyone, anywhere. Use apps like Messenger and WhatsApp to connect with friends and family—even if they don’t have a Meta Portal.
- Bigger screen, bigger sound. A brilliant 14” HD tilting display and a room-filling stereo speaker means you’ll never miss a detail.
- Privacy by design. Easily disable the camera and microphone, or block the lens with the integrated camera cover.
Later hardware announcements should be treated as separate initiatives unless Meta directly connects them to the canceled 2022 programs. A subsequent watch rumor or prototype is not automatically a revival.
What it meant for consumers
- No canceled smartwatch was available to buy, so there was no retail owner support question for those projects.
- Portal owners should not infer an immediate loss of functionality solely from the layoff news. Software updates, sales, cloud services and end-of-support dates require separate notices.
- Readers seeking a similar smart-display experience would need to compare current Amazon Echo Show or Google Nest products, whose calling apps, privacy controls and regional availability differ from Portal.
- For established watches, Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch and Google Pixel Watch are retail alternatives—but none is a direct substitute for Meta’s reported camera-watch concepts.
Why the headline needs a date
“Meta to shutdown” is both grammatically awkward and misleading in the present tense. The defensible description is that Meta reportedly canceled two unreleased smartwatch programs and wound down its consumer Portal push in November 2022, during a much broader workforce and spending reset. The layoffs were official; the product details came from contemporary reporting and should remain attributed.
The Bottom Line
Bottom line: Meta’s November 2022 cuts ended or sidelined a consumer hardware strategy that included Portal and two unreleased smartwatches, but they did not end Reality Labs or Meta’s broader push into VR, AR and wearables. The event belongs to the company’s 2022–23 efficiency drive—not to a newly announced shutdown.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
