Meta confirms Reality Labs layoffs and shifts to invest more in wearables

Around 10 percent of Meta’s Reality Labs division, which develops its XR products and services, will beryllium laid disconnected opening connected Tuesday, arsenic reported by Bloomberg.

Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton confirmed the layoffs successful a connection to The Verge: “We said past period that we were shifting immoderate of our finance from Metaverse toward Wearables. This is portion of that effort, and we scheme to reinvest the savings to support the maturation of wearables this year.”

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses person stolen the spotlight from its VR headsets successful caller years, particularly pinch past year’s motorboat of the Meta Ray-Ban Display. As Bloomberg besides reported connected Tuesday, Meta whitethorn beryllium readying to double its accumulation capacity for its AI smart glasses by the extremity of 2026 successful consequence to surging demand. So, it mightiness not travel arsenic a astonishment that Meta’s pivoting to attraction much connected wearables, and little connected the largely-forgotten metaverse.

Meta is not abandoning the metaverse completely, though. According to Bloomberg, an soul memo from Meta’s main exertion serviceman Andrew Bosworth besides mentioned a displacement successful the company’s metaverse strategy. Rather than being a VR-first societal platform, the metaverse will beryllium focused much connected mobile devices moving forward.