Snap (formerly Snapchat) created a more casual, personal form of social media and watched as Meta rapidly adopted many of its best ideas. Now Evan Spiegel, chief executive officer of Snap, is betting the company’s future on a product that may be harder for rivals to copy: a market-leading augmented reality (AR) wearable.
The unveiling and the device
In mid-September Evan Spiegel took the stage at a small theater in Beverly Hills to showcase the company’s new hardware. Dressed in his customary black T-shirt and jeans, Spiegel introduced the Specset, a chunky black smart glasses product priced at $2,195. The device was first unveiled in June, and the September event provided a platform for a fuller presentation of Snap’s vision.
Because of its size and price the glasses quickly became the target of online mockery and memes. Spiegel acknowledged the criticism with humor, joking about the “helpful feedback” and thanking the internet for the “particularly funny memes.” Beyond the jokes, however, the company needed to demonstrate that Specset was more than an expensive research project and an attention‑grabbing ad campaign.
Years of work and billions spent
Snap has spent more than a decade developing wearable AR technology, committing roughly $3 billion to that effort. For a company that has often been second-guessed on its strategic direction, the Specset launch is intended to prove not only that Spiegel can see the direction of the market, but that Snap can compete with much better‑capitalized rivals.
Meta as a persistent competitor
Snap’s historical experience — that Meta and Mark Zuckerberg have copied its successful features — frames this effort. By focusing on hardware, Spiegel hopes to create a product that is harder for larger competitors to replicate than software features. Nonetheless, Meta’s continued presence as a capable imitator remains a key risk to Snap’s ambitions.
The questions ahead for Snap
The company now faces several concrete challenges: can Specset overcome criticism about its design and justify its $2,195 price to reach wider adoption; will the device deliver distinctive user value beyond novelty; and can Snap sustain a long-term competitive advantage with this hardware approach? The September presentation aimed to reassure investors and users that Snap is not merely anticipating the future, but trying to shape it.
Conclusion
After more than a decade of development and approximately $3 billion in investment, the outcome of the Specset effort will materially affect Snap’s trajectory. Evan Spiegel has placed a significant bet on a product meant to be harder to copy, but the company will have to translate the technical work and marketing moment into sustained market success while competing with Meta and Mark Zuckerberg.
