SoylentNews

takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Snap's take on smartglasses [wikipedia.org] has reportedly failed to live up to expectations [slate.com]:

A year ago, Snapchat was so excited about its first hardware product that it renamed itself Snap Inc. With the launch of Spectacles, CEO Evan Spiegel decided, the company would no longer be defined solely by the Snapchat app. It was not a social media company, he told the Wall Street Journal, but a camera company. Internet-connected photography, he philosophized, necessitated a "a reinvention of the camera [wsj.com]."

Yeah, not so much. Citing "two people close to the company," the Information reported Monday that Snap had "badly overestimated demand" [theinformation.com] and now has "hundreds of thousands of unsold units sitting in warehouses, either fully assembled or in parts." This comes just weeks after Spiegel said at a Vanity Fair summit that Spectacles sales had "exceeded our expectations [bizjournals.com]," topping 150,000. If the Information's reporting is accurate, then Spiegel's claim, well ... isn't. (A Snap spokesperson declined my request for comment.)

Regardless of who's telling the truth, it already seemed clear from Snap's first two earnings reports that Spectacles were fizzling. As Business Insider pointed out in August [businessinsider.com], the company reported just $5.4 million in "other" revenue in its second quarter, down from $8.3 million in its first quarter. Spectacles are presumed to make up the bulk of revenue in this category. It's one thing to only sell 150,000 of a product in its first year, as long as sales are growing. If they're already tailing off, that suggests the product might be doomed.

The devices let users record 10-30 seconds of video at a time [techradar.com]. They are transferred to a smartphone wirelessly and can then be uploaded to Snapchat.

Also at Business Insider, which reports "Snap hit with more layoffs, plans to slow hiring in 2018" [businessinsider.com].

Previously: Goodbye Snapchat, Hello Snap Inc [soylentnews.org]
Intel and Luxottica Launch "Radar Pace" Smartglasses [soylentnews.org]
Lawsuit Against Snapchat Dismissed [soylentnews.org]
Snapchat Parent Company Snap Inc. Sets Valuation at Up to $22.3 Billion [soylentnews.org]
Snapchat Parent Rockets Higher in Wall Street Debut [soylentnews.org]
Snapchat Posts $2.2bn Loss After IPO [soylentnews.org]

Original Submission