It seems Facebook is getting more and more serious about being a long term player in hardware section. Yesterday, the company promoted Andrew Bosworth, the current head of its hardware division that makes Oculus and other consumer devices to the role of chief technology officer replacing outgoing CTO Mike Schroepfer.
In his new role, Bosworth, will lead the hardware group, Facebook Reality Labs. He will also assume responsibility for Facebook’s broader software engineering organization and artificial intelligence efforts. Bosworth will report directly to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Note that lately, Mark Zuckerberg has taken a keen interest in developing AR glasses.
Technically, Facebook is still a relative newcomer as far as consumer hardware is concerned. Moreover, the company faces steep skepticism from potential customers given its long litany of privacy scandals. However, Facebook has significantly ramped up its hardware efforts in recent years under Bosworth’s guidance. Currently, Facebook Reality Labs team has over 10,000 employees.
Zuckerberg said in a statement “As our next CTO, Boz will continue leading Facebook Reality Labs and overseeing our work in augmented reality, virtual reality, and more, and as part of this transition, a few other groups will join Boz’s team as well. This is all foundational to our broader efforts helping to build the metaverse, and I’m excited about the future of this work under Boz’s leadership.”
Facebook said the outgoing CTO, Schroepfer has been CTO since 2013 so he plans to stay “deeply connected to the company, working on key initiatives including recruiting and developing technical talent.” Schroepfer said stepping down next year will let him “dedicate more time to my family and my personal philanthropic efforts.”
As of now, Facebook has these hardware products in its portfolio: Oculus Quest VR headset, Portal video chat device lineup, and a new camera equipped smart glasses with Ray-Ban. Facebook is also developing AR glasses with displays in them which according to Zuckerberg will one day be as ubiquitous as mobile phones.
