Snap’s highly anticipated augmented reality glasses, Specs, faced challenges at their launch.
Recent performance of Snap’s stock has been concerning, with a 30% decline over the past year. Following the unveiling of Specs, shares plummeted by over 5%, dropping from $5.86 on Tuesday to a low of $4.83 by Wednesday morning. As of now, the stock has not regained its prior value.
A primary worry regarding Snap’s smart glasses, which have been in development for over a decade, is their steep price tag of nearly $2,200 each.
It’s important to note that Snap’s main audience, teenagers, often lack the financial means to afford such an expense, raising concerns about the product’s potential profitability.
In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, where he wore the new glasses, CEO Evan Spiegel addressed the high cost. He emphasized, “The most important way to think of Specs is as a computer, and so they’re comparably priced to other high-end computers or high-end laptops.”
Spiegel defended the price further, stating that Specs fits uniquely in the AR landscape—sitting between more affordable options like Meta’s Ray-Bans, which lack significant computing capabilities, and bulkier devices like the Apple Vision Pro, known for their power but high cost. He described his product as both “highly wearable but also incredibly capable for immersive computing.”
