According to a report, Snapchat is said to be planning on releasing a new version of its Spectacles glasses with two cameras and a higher price point of $350 by the end of the year. The new Spectacles is internally codenamed Newport and will feature an all-new design with a more premium frame made of aluminum and cameras capable of producing augmented reality effects in videos.
The $350 price tag is more than double the cost of the first iteration of Spectacles, which were released in 2016. By utilizing two cameras, the Snapchat app will be able to overlay AR lenses and create 3D-like photo effects from footage taken by the Spectacles. The new hardware is in-line with CEO Evan Spiegel’s grand vision of eventually creating eyewear technology that seamlessly overlays virtual objects onto the real world.
Despite the setbacks with the Spectacles, CEO Spiegel is planning to develop future iterations of Spectacles for years to come. Snap recently created a plan to invest money on its hardware efforts until reaching break-even in 2020. And last month, the company’s “Snap Lab” hardware group hired the former president and COO of ICON Aircraft, Steen Strand, to be director of product design.
To better manage its inventory of Spectacles, Snap significantly reduced the number of pairs it ordered for its second version of the glasses. According to internal shipment numbers, Snap ordered roughly 35,000 pairs of its second Spectacles and an additional 52,000 of a slightly modified model released in September 2018. For the third model, the company planned roughly 24,000 pairs.
Snap continues its push into hardware as it has struggled to meet Wall Street’s growth expectations. Regardless of the struggles facing Snap’s core ad business, Spiegel has maintained that building hardware is an important part of his company’s long-term strategy. At The New York Times DealBook conference, Spiegel said: “Five years from now, I think people are going to be using the camera in ways that they can’t even imagine today ー in a way that makes as essential a tool as your phone is.”