Meta cancels unreleased smartwatches following mass layoffs

Meta has ended work on its smartwatch projects as part of a cost-cutting exercise, following the 11,000 layoffs announced last week. 

The company's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, reportedly told employees working on the two unreleased smartwatches that they would be moving their efforts across to the company's upcoming augmented reality glasses. 

Rumors have been rife regarding a Meta smartwatch over the last couple of years, with various hints suggesting it would feature a detachable display and built-in cameras designed for video calls and photo sharing. 

According to The Verge, this refers to the smartwatch further down the line - codenamed 'Milan' - and was set to release in spring 2023 for $349.

However, not much is known about the second unreleased smartwatch from Meta, and it's thought this was only in the early stages of being developed. 

These changes came quickly after the company announced mass layoffs, which amounted to around 13% of its total workforce. 

In a note to employees, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the move was the result of increased competition, the global economic downturn, ads signal loss and his own poor decisions. 

All in all, it's a bit of an abrupt end to a project we've been anticipating for a while - and one that would have seen another major tech player enter the wearable hardware space. 

We wouldn't rule out Meta returning to the area at some stage, but, at least during this current downturn, its efforts will be elsewhere.