Well, that was quick. Snap has reportedly decided to stop development on the Pixy, the company’s flying camera drone, four months after the product launched.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told employees about the decision during a recent Q&A session, citing a need to re-prioritize the company’s resources, which include operating the mobile app Snapchat.
Snap launched the Pixy in April at a $229 starting price. The drone is small enough to fit in one hand or even a pocket. Once it takes off, Pixy can follow you around in the air while it snaps photos or videos, which can be wirelessly sent to your phone.
The company debuted the Pixy during Snap’s annual partners' summit, promoting it as a new way for users to create innovative content. But the decision to stop development signals the product is struggling to drive sales.
Snap declined to comment on the news; the drone is still on sale on the company’s website.
The reported decision is surprising. But in Q2, Snap posted disappointing earnings on a $422 million net loss, an increase from a $152 million net loss the year before, even though Snapchat's daily active users have been growing.
“Our revenue growth has substantially slowed, and we are evolving our business and strategy to adapt. We are working to reaccelerate growth and take share, but we believe it will likely take some time before we see significant improvements,” Spiegel wrote in an investors' letter last month. According to The Verge, Snap is now in the early stages of planning layoffs.
If the decision to cancel the Pixy is true, then the drone will joins Spotify’s Car Thing, which was also recently sunsetted a mere five months after launch, in the short-lived tech graveyard.