Augmented-reality unicorn Magic Leap cuts half of jobs in major restructuring affecting 1,000 employees
- Magic Leap is planning to wind down its consumer business to focus on its enterprise products, say people familiar with the matter
- The augmented-reality start-up has raised more than US$2 billion from high-profile investors including Alphabet and Alibaba
About 1,000 employees will be affected, the people added. The company is planning to wind down its consumer business and will instead focus on its enterprise products, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private.
The decision to abandon its consumer ambitions represents a dramatic retreat for a company that was at one time seen as the future of at-home augmented reality.
“While our leadership team, board, and investors still believe in the long-term potential of our IP, the near-term revenue opportunities are currently concentrated on the enterprise side,” chief executive officer Rony Abovitz said in a statement posted on the company’s website, confirming the earlier Bloomberg News report.
Abovitz said that the company made “the difficult decision to lay off a number of employees across Magic Leap,” without elaborating on numbers.
“These changes will occur at every level of our company, from my direct reports to our factory employees,” he said.