Snap unveiled its $2,195 Specs augmented-reality glasses at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California, positioning the device as a major bet by CEO Evan Spiegel on a post-smartphone era. Shipping this fall, the glasses face skepticism from activist investors over high development costs.
Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California
Almost twenty years after the introduction of the iPhone, Snap is betting that consumers are ready to look up from opaque screens and embrace wearable computing. The company debuted Specs, its first augmented-reality glasses geared toward the broader public, at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California. Priced at $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit, the device represents a strategic gamble by Chief Executive Officer Evan Spiegel to pivot the social media firm beyond smartphone dependency. Unveiled at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California, Specs mark a major bet by the social media minnow in a device category that even Apple has struggled to turn into a hit with its Vision Pro headset. The launch comes at a critical moment for Snap, whose ad business is under pressure from larger rivals. An activist investor has also demanded it spin off or shut down the cash-burning Specs unit after more than $3.5 billion in investment. Growing concerns about smartphones’ impact on mental health and advancements in AI have spawned a wave of products that aim to dethrone phones as the central gadget in daily life.
Almost 20 years since the launch of the iPhone, people are ready to think about computing differently,
Spiegel said in an interview with CNBC.
On Tuesday, the Snap co-founder debuted Specs, his company’s first AR device geared toward the broader public instead of developers. At $2,195 with a $200 refundable deposit, Specs are more than 15 times the price of Snap’s $130 camera-only Spectacles that debuted in 2016 and never became a hit.
Specs really represents a way to use computing together in shared experiences in the real world, looking up through see-through lenses rather than at an opaque screen, Spiegel said
Hardware Design and Enterprise Software Partnerships
Verizon Communications
The device is expected to ship this fall in the U.S., UK and France. Unveiled at the Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, California, the Specs are augmented reality glasses aimed at the general public. They will go on sale in the fall in the United States, the United Kingdom and France, and can be reserved starting Tuesday for US$2,195. Snap is targeting a middle ground: glasses more sophisticated than the models offered by Meta and soon Google, which CEO Evan Spiegel sees more as a phone accessory,
and less bulky and costly than headsets. Financial Pressure and Shareholder Skepticism
Irenic Capital Management
An activist investor has demanded Snap spin off or shut down the Specs unit, which has cost the company $3.5 billion to date.
For more than a decade, some of the world’s biggest technology companies have spent billions trying to put computers on people’s faces. During Snap’s Q2 earnings call, Spiegel claimed there has been a huge amount of interest
in preorders for the new AR glasses, but gave no exact numbers.
Competitive Landscape in Spatial Computing
Meta Platforms
The company is reentering a smart glasses market currently featuring Meta Platforms. SNAP revealed new partnership and software details about its forthcoming Specs augmented reality glasses, pitching the US$2,195 device to early adopters ahead of a launch planned for later this year. Snap still ranks among the world’s most recognized social media brands, and boasts almost 400 million daily active users, Spiegel said in the company’s second quarter earnings release. However, during the last year, the company underwent sweeping layoffs, shut down projects, and saw a shakeup in its executive ranks, as it struggled with profitability and steady revenue growth.