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Evan Spiegel is making a $2,195 bet that the smartphone era is ending. This week, the Snap Inc co-founder and CEO unveiled Specs, the company’s first AR glasses aimed at everyday consumers rather than developers, according to CNBC. The price is more than 15 times what Snap charged for its camera-only Spectacles in 2016, a product that flopped.
Spiegel’s pitch is that Specs aren’t glasses at all, but a wearable computer. He argues the price is reasonable next to a high-end laptop, and that consumers are tired of “staring down into a small phone screen.” The glasses ship this fall.
It’s a high-stakes wager for a company that has lost money every year since going public. Snap’s stock dropped more than 5% after the announcement and is down 30% over the past year. Analysts are skeptical, too. One called it “the worst time for any company to be launching any kind of premium product,” noting that Snap’s young core audience can’t afford a $2,000 device.