14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has decided to shut down the manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, Oregon that was in charge of building the Surface Hub, with the entire staff there to be laid off.
The company confirmed the closure in a statement, explaining that it’s only adjusting production capabilities, with no impact on the Surface Hub whatsoever.
This means that even though a plant is shutting down, the company has no plans to give up on the Surface Hub, a device that proved to be pretty successful in the enterprise.
The manufacturing facility employed 124 people, and 61 of them will leave the company by September 8, while the remaining 63 will be laid off by the end of the year. The production plant was previously owned by Perceptive Pixel, the company that Microsoft purchased in 2012 and whose technology served as the foundation of the Surface Hub.
Committed to the Surface Hub
So closing the plant comes following the 2012 acquisition, though it’s a little bit surprising to see the company taking such a measure after 5 years since it purchased the company operating the facility.
“We are consolidating our Surface manufacturing. This will result in the closure of the Wilsonville, OR office and factory. We remain committed to the Surface Hub product line and will move forward with Surface Hub development in Redmond,” a company spokesperson said.
More recently, the company also announced a job cut that would affect 3,000 people in the sales unit, but it’s not clear if the two layoffs are related in any way. The chances are they’re not given that the previous job cut was specifically aimed at sales staff.
Microsoft is also believed to be working on a second-generation Surface Hub, but details in this regard are very scarce for the time being, though the unveiling could take place in the fall when new-generation models like the revamped Surface Book could also see daylight.