Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com and a key player in the web publishing ecosystem, is undergoing another strategic shift. In a blog post titled “Returning to Core” published Thursday evening, the company announced its decision to streamline operations and renew its focus on its central offerings—namely, the WordPress platform and its core suite of tools and services.
This development comes after a period of diversification during which Automattic significantly broadened its business portfolio. In recent years, the company expanded into areas including e-commerce (WooCommerce), enterprise content management (via VIP services), and even social media (notably through its acquisition of Tumblr). However, executives have now signaled that these broader ambitions may have diluted its focus from WordPress, the product that originally propelled the company to global recognition.
“Returning to Core” reflects a back-to-basics philosophy. Automattic’s leadership stated that the company will prioritize improvements to the WordPress platform’s user experience, performance, and reliability—all areas that are increasingly important as competition intensifies in the website-building and content management sectors.
The post notes that this renewed focus will involve reallocating resources internally and potentially scaling back or spinning off less aligned business units. While details were sparse, the move suggests Automattic is seeking to reaffirm its position as the leading open-source content management system, which powers more than 40% of websites on the internet today.
Company founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg has long emphasized the importance of maintaining the ethos of open-source development, and this latest announcement seems to be in line with that vision. By returning attention to the foundational aspects of WordPress, Automattic aims to ensure that it continues to meet the evolving needs of bloggers, developers, publishers, and businesses relying on its tools.
This reset also serves as a strategic response to competitors such as Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify, all of which have gained ground by providing user-friendly platforms that integrate advanced functionality without requiring coding knowledge. By strengthening WordPress’ core offerings and usability, Automattic hopes to preserve its market dominance while staying true to its founding mission.
More details on how this transition will affect existing services and users are expected to be released in the coming weeks as the company works through this realignment.
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