Advertisement
ByteDance’s virtual reality unit Pico pushes new round of job cuts in restructuring move amid falling demand for headsets
- Pico founder Henry Zhou Hongwei told employees on Tuesday that the job cuts are being conducted amid sluggish growth in the VR headset market
- While the specific size of the job cuts is not known, reports by Chinese local media said lay-offs are expected to affect hundreds of jobs at Pico
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
ByteDance-owned virtual reality (VR) headset maker Pico is conducting a new round of job cuts in line with a restructuring, according to people familiar with the matter, as its sales in mainland China and overseas markets struggle this year.
Pico founder and chief executive Henry Zhou Hongwei told employees on Tuesday that the company must let go of staff because it had been too optimistic about growth in the VR headset market, according to a person briefed on the matter who declined to be named.
The mobile operating system team of Pico will be merged into the product development group at parent ByteDance, where they will focus on research in core technologies and other hardware, according to the person.
While the specific size of the job cuts is not known, reports by Chinese local media said planned lay-offs are expected to affect hundreds of jobs at Pico.
Pico had already conducted a round of lay-offs earlier this year that affected hundreds of employees, with some teams trimmed by as much as 30 per cent, according to a report in February by the South China Morning Post, which cited two people familiar with the matter.
The latest restructuring effort by Pico underscores another slow year for augmented reality (AR) and VR headset shipments worldwide.
Zhou Xin is Tech Editor of the Post, following stints as Political Economy Editor and Deputy China Editor. He has previously worked for Reuters and Bloomberg in Beijing.
Advertisement