Snap Inc. believes spinning off its upcoming augmented reality glasses into a separate business entity is the ideal platform for the much-awaited product line, expected to launch later this year.
Called Specs Inc., this subsidiary, operating independently, is expected to provide what the American tech company hopes will be greater operational focus, as well as scope for new partnerships and the potential for minority investment as part of capital flexibility. Simply put, this would mean Specs Inc. can focus on developing its upcoming Specs augmented reality glasses and also secure investment for this foray. Specs Inc., when it finally rolls out its first smart glasses, will compete with the likes of Meta and Ray-Ban, as well as the upcoming Google Android XR glasses.
“Specs are launching at an important time, as artificial intelligence transforms the way that we use our computers. Instead of an operating system that expects us to do all of the work, Specs feature a first-of-its-kind Intelligence System that uses its understanding of you and your world to help get things done on your behalf while protecting and respecting your privacy,” the company says in a statement, adding, “We’re building a computer that we hope you’ll use less, because it does more for you.”
Specs Inc. says developers are already building with Specs, including gaming and education-focused applications, as well as productivity workflows. Some examples of work-in-progress development include SustainaSpecs for sustainability analysis of raw materials, the AR rhythm game Seasonal Snap Saber, and the nature education application Coyote PDX. For Snap Inc., this is a crucial diversification that will sit alongside its social platform Snapchat, which, as of November, had 943 million monthly active users worldwide.
More than anything else, the announcement reaffirms plans for the consumer-focused Specs smart glasses to be released this year. That said, no specific timelines have been mentioned by Snap Inc., in the context of CEO Evan Spiegel recently saying that these glasses will be priced lower than the $3,499 Apple Vision Pro headset.
Snap Inc. does not detail whether Specs Inc. already has any investors, but there has been progress with Snap OS 2.0. The company says that, in conjunction with Lens Studio, developers will have all the essential components required — from SDKs to cloud infrastructure to new monetisation tools. The Commerce Kit, for instance, will enable payments and purchases directly via Specs. Additional context can perhaps be found in Snap’s announcement from late last year, where it was confirmed that Perplexity will pay $400 million a year to place its conversational AI chatbot within the Snapchat search experience.
“Our goal is to make AI more personal, social, and fun — woven into the fabric of your friendships, Snaps, and conversations,” Spiegel had noted at the time. This may well form the foundation for search experiences on Specs, though more partnerships cannot be ruled out in the interim. An intriguing element behind Snap’s decision to make Specs Inc. a separate business could stem from the company’s desire to keep its hardware business distinct from the Snapchat platform, which, like many social media apps, runs the risk of facing regulatory scrutiny over child safety and other policy-related concerns.
(Vishal Mathur is Technology Editor for Hindustan Times. When not making sense of technology, he often searches for an elusive analog space in a digital world.)
Curated by James Chen
