Snap held its Q2 2026 earnings call on Monday, with CEO Evan Spiegel speaking about the company’s hopes and the public’s response to its upcoming Specs AR glasses.
Currently available for pre-order, Snap’s Specs are scheduled to launch on Sept. 16 and will set buyers back the formidable sum of $2,195. It’s an intimidating price tag which may scare off some consumers. Still, Spiegel believes Specs are the future of Snap. The company has invested significantly in the AR glasses, which have been in development for over 10 years, and sees Specs as an important milestone.
“Our largest long-term opportunity is Specs, a new kind of computer built into see-through glasses,” Spiegel said early in Monday’s earnings call. “Specs are designed for a future in which AI does more work on our behalf and people spend less time operating screens.”
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Despite this vision, it’s unclear whether public anticipation for Specs’ release is meeting Snap’s expectations. When asked about pre-order volumes, Spiegel claimed there has been “a huge amount of interest” in the AR glasses since they were announced in June. Even so, he did not offer any exact numbers, leaving it ambiguous as to whether such interest has materially translated into pre-orders.
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“What we’re hearing from folks is really that they want to try Specs,” said Spiegel. “It’s obviously a high consideration purchase at $2,195.”
Spiegel noted that developers understood the “technical leaps” Snap has made with Specs. However, when it came to the general public’s response, he focused on the importance of people getting to try the AR glasses after their September launch.
“I think for the broader public and consumers, it’s going to be really important for folks to go hands-on,” Spiegel continued. “I think Sept. 16 at our upcoming launch event will be an important starting point for that consumer-oriented journey. Certainly, a lot of exciting momentum around Spectacles and we’re really looking forward to getting these in folks’ hands so that they can experience the platform for themselves.”
This may suggest that pre-order numbers haven’t yet reached the volume Snap had been hoping for. Even so, the company is confidently backing Specs as the next big revolutionary product, and trusting that it will prove itself at launch. Spiegel stated that there is a significant opportunity to create the “next computing platform,” referencing the introduction of desktop computers to office jobs.
Snap CFO Doug Hott also spoke about Specs during the earnings call, stating that the company is currently focused on product quality, customer experience, and ecosystem.
“I think looking forward on Sept. 16, we’ll be sharing a lot more about all the different ways people can use Specs, how they fit into people’s lives, and we’re just really excited to get Specs into folks’ hands later this year,” said Hott.
Snap announced $1.6 billion in revenue this quarter — a 19 percent increase year over year, which was above expectations. Even so, the company still operated at a net loss of $164 million in Q2. Snap laid off 16 percent of its workforce earlier this year, with Spiegel stating that it aimed to lower its annual costs by $500 million before the year’s end.
