Snap on Tuesday announced the fifth generation of its Spectacles augmented reality glasses that can overlay digital graphics onto the physical world.
The latest Spectacles are only available for developers, who must commit to paying $99 a month for one full year if they want to build AR apps for the device. The glasses can produce more compelling digital visuals than the prior version and are built on top of a redesigned software operating system dubbed Snap OS.
Meta brought in $131.9 billion in advertising sales for 2023, and reported net income of $39.1 billion for the year. By contrast, Snap recorded $4.6 billion in total revenue and a net loss of $1.3 billion in 2023. With Meta selling its Quest VR headsets at a loss in order to lead and influence the overall VR market, Gebbie said he expects the company to follow a similar aggressive pricing strategy if it debuts its own AR device. For Snap to compete, the company's AR device must be"something really impressive" that incorporates the best of its core Snapchat app and appeals to the younger demographic that differentiates it from Meta, he said.