Despite restrained market development and fierce competition, Snap will launch a new model of its smart glasses in 2025. The glasses, called "Specs," are intended to usher in the next generation of "wearable computing" with their own AI platform and without smartphone connection. CEO Evan Spiegel is thus relying on a new interface for artificial intelligence that projects information directly into the user's field of vision.

Snap invested over $3 billion in the past ten years in its own hardware, optics, and operating systems for augmented reality applications. The Specs are based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, operate entirely independently, and are intended to enable immersive use—from collaborative applications to "holographic workstations" to real-time AI interactions in the physical space. Integration with systems like OpenAI, Google Gemini, and DeepSeek is planned.

The launch takes place in an environment of growing tech industry investments in wearable AI devices. Recently, OpenAI had acquired Jony Ive's hardware start-up for $6.4 billion. Apple is investing in its Vision Pro, Meta is pursuing a different product strategy with Ray-Ban Meta. But while Meta and Apple rely on cameras and voice assistants, Snap aims to score with visual AI and precise augmented reality representation.

Spiegel defends the risky strategy despite the company's ongoing operational losses – Snap has not recorded a profitable year since its IPO in 2017. The platform currently has over 900 million monthly active users, but its market value has almost halved in the past year. Investors were already skeptical in 2017 when Snap recorded a write-down loss of 40 million dollars on unsold glasses.

The technical prerequisites are now in place," said Spiegel. "We have consistently invested in this vision over the last eleven years." The specs are intended to be not only smarter but also more practical for everyday use than previous models – without external devices and with a minimalist design. Snap is still holding back many details; the final design and price will only be revealed at the market launch.

In the long term, Snap wants to not only keep up with Meta and Apple with Specs, but also create its own ecosystem. At the center is the idea that hardware and AI applications will no longer be separable in the future – a trend that is likely to determine who will lead in the race to succeed the smartphone in the coming years.