Sources: Facebook plans to unveil Portal, an Echo Show-like video chat device with a screen and camera, at F8 in May and ship it in second half of 2018 for $499
CheddarAlex Heath
Context & Ripple Effects
Cheddar's January 2018 scoop framed Portal as a single high-end answer to the Echo Show: one screen-and-camera video chat device, unveiled at F8, shipping in the second half of 2018 at $499. What followed in the related coverage was a quiet collapse of that plan — by September, sources described two sizes priced near $400 and $300 with Alexa support, and by October the actual launch landed at $199 for a 10-inch Portal and $349 for a 15.6-inch swiveling Portal+.
The repricing matters because it shows Facebook entering consumer hardware not as a premium statement but as a volume play from day one — undercutting the very device category it was benchmarked against, then extending the line into TV accessories and portables over the following years.
First-order effects
Facebook's planned single-device, $499 strategy was abandoned before launch: buyers got a two-SKU lineup at $199/$349 instead, with preorders opening immediately and November shipping.
Second-order effects
Building Alexa support into Portal meant Facebook shipped hardware dependent on its direct smart-display competitor Amazon, while pricing below where its own internal plan started — pressuring the Echo Show on cost rather than differentiation.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, Portal becomes less a product than a distribution surface for Facebook services inside the home, sustained across form factors — the later Portal TV accessory and 2021 Portal Go refresh show the line being kept alive through cheap iterations rather than premium ones.
The trend: Consumer hardware is becoming an acquisition channel for platform companies, with Facebook's Portal repriced down and stretched across form factors to buy presence in the home rather than margin.
Maybe just me, but I think it would be super cool to have “a video chat device with a screen and camera,” especially if it's portable, and fits in your pocket. And maybe if you could download apps on it, and send text messages and stuff. http://twitter.com/...
$500 is a good chunk of change, and the company's hardware efforts through Oculus haven't been fantastic. Echo Show costs $229. Additionally, a real promotion strategy will be needed. A big reason I think Snap's spectacles failed is due to a lack of committed promotion. http://tw…
sure, Facebook, go ahead and name your big new thing after a video game that features an AI robot toying with and taunting a human for all eternity http://twitter.com/...
I suspect people will have some feelings about the idea of putting an FB device in their homes. (I mean versus an amazon or google one) http://twitter.com/...
$499 may be too pricey for just a FB video cog one, but Zuck reportedly doesn't care if it loses money. If it can be cheaper, your smart home hub & speaker, and easiest way to video chat the fam, there's potential to beat Amazon/Google with Fb's social graph http://twitter.com/..…
I don't think there's any way in hell this thing goes on sale for $500, which is more than 2x the cost of the Show. (The Show is probably the least popular Echo on the market after the Look) http://twitter.com/...