It was recently announced that Intel is making preparations to wind down its New Devices Group. This is the division that has worked on several consumer items, including augmented reality glasses, among other things. The change may have an impact on around 200 employees.
In an email to CNBC, a spokeswoman for Intel said that the company is always coming up with new technologies and experiences.
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“Not all of these end up becoming products that we decide to put on the market,” she said. The Superlight initiative is an excellent illustration of how Intel built customer augmented reality eyeglasses that are actually differentiated from one another. As we continue to innovate and investigate new technologies, we are going to take a methodical approach, which will occasionally require us to make difficult decisions. When the way the market is moving doesn’t support continued investment, these decisions will have to be made.
Vaunt is a brand name for augmented-reality eyeglasses that were introduced earlier this year. The “Superlight” initiative is an inside secret code for Vaunt. It looks like Intel has decided to put its smart glasses project on hold, at least for the near future.
The New Devices Group inside Intel was established in the year 2013. Acquisitions were one means by which the corporation worked to expand the division. This encompasses the takeover of Recon Instruments in 2015, in addition to the acquisition of Basis Science in 2014. However, the outcomes of not every single one of these have been what was anticipated.
Due to difficulties with overheating, Intel withdrew all Basis Peak smartwatches and provided customers with refunds in the year 2016. The recall was issued because of the Basis Peak. By the end of the year, they had stopped fixing the watch and made sure that no one could get to the customers’ information.
Intel put out the following statement in response to rumours that the company was leaving the business of wearables.
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“Intel is in no way withdrawing from the wearables business,” the spokesperson said. In fact, we are working on a number of products that we are very excited about. These are in addition to products we have already released that focus on wearable technology, like the TAG Heuer Connected wristwatch and the most recent Oakley Radar Pace smart eyewear.
Following the publication of the remarks, almost eighty per cent of the workforce in the wearables sector was laid off. It is uncertain how many of these individuals accepted the positions of employment in other divisions of the corporation that had been extended to some of them.
Because of this most recent step, Intel will no longer participate in the market for wearables at all. The tech giant will still focus on making chips for personal computers, servers, and other devices, but it will also look into new technologies.
