A year after it was prepped up for the Internet of Things, Mozilla has laid off its remaining 50 personnel in its Connected Devices Team, a sign that its effort to compete in the IoT revolution is also dead.
According to Tech Spot, Mozilla has already stopped developing and selling of its Firefox OS smartphones. The 50 people laid off can, however, still stay in the company after Mozilla has opened new positions where employees from there connected devices initiative can apply for. Connected Devices Team Vice President Ari Jaaksi is also leaving who follows the lead of Bertrand Neveux, Director of Software.
In his statement to CNET that appeared in We Tech Geeks, Jaaksi confirmed the layoff:
"We have shifted our internal approach to the internet-of-things opportunity. We are dissolving our connected devices initiative and incorporating our internet-of-things explorations into an increased focus on emerging technologies."
Launched four years ago, Firefox OS was designed for low-end handsets in emerging markets. However, the popularity of Android in these markets had a huge effect on Mozilla's efforts. Making matters worse is the cancellation of the $25 Firefox OS smartphone in 2015 forcing the company to abandon its mobile OS plans later that year.
According to the website of Android Authority, Mozilla has been losing market share to Google Chrome and has attempted to stay relevant when users do a mobile search. The company is said to now focusing the AR and VR space and also investing on IoT projects. However, its main focus is on a next generation web venture: Project Quantum. Mozilla revealed that their new project will be available to users by the end of 2017.
However, Mozilla believes that this is not the end of its Internet of Things effort. It is still an emerging technology and it is still too early to teel.
