Buried in a lengthy letter to Snap investors in November 2017 was a small section about Spectacles, Snap’s smart glasses and first foray into hardware. Spectacles, the letter explained in less, uh, blunt terms, were pretty much a flop. The company significantly overestimated demand for the devices and lost $39.9 million on unsold Spectacles. Snap, however, is apparently still trying to make Spectacles a thing. According to a report today from Cheddar, the company is working on two more models of Spectacles to be released in 2018 and 2019.
From Cheddar:
The second version of Spectacles is currently being manufactured with the goal of shipping by this fall, according to people familiar with the matter. Aside from being water resistant and available in new colors, the updated camera eyewear will focus on performance improvements and bug fixes rather than dramatic changes, said the people, who requested not to be named discussing confidential information.
The third pair of glasses will reportedly be equipped with two cameras to “allow for 3D-like depth effects in videos” and circular frames. There’s also talk of a built-in GPS. Sources told Cheddar these Spectacles could retail for as much as $300 in 2019. For reference, Spectacles 1.0 — the ones that Snapchat couldn’t really get anybody to buy — cost $130. Though, the company did lose a billion dollars after Kylie Jenner tweeted about not using the app anymore, so it’s gotta make that up somehow.
