In a sign Snapchat’s coveted Spectacles sunglasses may finally come to Canada, the company says it plans “to significantly broaden the distribution” of the accessory in 2017.
The information comes courtesy of company’s recent IPO filing wherein Snapchat, which goes by the name of Snap now, writes about some of the risks involved with manufacturing a hardware product at scale.
“We have limited manufacturing experience for our only physical product, Spectacles, and we do not have any internal manufacturing capabilities,” says the company. “Instead, we rely on one contract manufacturer to build Spectacles… Any errors or defects in that third-party technology could result in errors in our products that could seriously harm our business.”
Snap released Spectacles in the U.S. late last year. The $130 USD wearable features a built-in camera that sends 10-second circular video clips directly to Snapchat.
However, even American Snapchat mavens found their patience tried as they attempted to get their hands on the limited edition item as a result of Snap’s distribution strategy.
Rather than selling Spectacles through a retail partner, the company sold the sunglasses through several Minion-like vending machines situated in California and New York City. The pre-release hype behind Snapchat’s first physical product quickly led to long lineups behind the facade of the few vending machines where consumers could purchase the sunglasses.
Source: SEC
Via:VentureBeat
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