INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Some were surprised to see Snap release a second version of its &face-camera& Spectacles gadget, since the original version failed to
convert hype into sales.
But those lackluster sales — which dropped to as low as 42,000 per quarter — didn&t only fail to dissuade the
social firm from making more specs, because now Tencent, the Chinese internet giant and Snap investor, has launched its own take on the
genre.
Tencent this week unveiled its answer to the video-recording sunglasses, which, you&ll notice, bear a striking resemblance to Snap
Spectacles.
Called the Weishi smartglasses, Tencent wearable camera sports a lens in the front corner that allows users to film from a
Thankfully, the Chinese gaming and social giant has not made the mistake of Snap first-generation Spectacles, which highlighted the camera
with a conspicuous yellow ring.
#Tencent's version of Snap Spectacles will go on sale Nov 11th pic.twitter.com/sNuSezdVgS
— Matthew
Brennan (@mbrennanchina) November 2, 2018
Tencent, which is best known for operating China massively popular WeChat messenger, has been an
investor in Snap for some time after backing it long before it went public
But, when others have criticized the company and its share price struggled, Tencent doubled down
It snapped up an additional 12 percent stake one year ago and it is said to have offered counsel to Snap CEO Evan Spiegel on product
We don&t know, however, if the two sides& discussions have ever covered Spectacles and thus inspired this new Tencent take on then.
The
purpose behind Tencent new gadget is implicit in its name
Weishi, which means µ videos& in Chinese, is also the name of the short-video sharing app that Tencent has been aggressively promoting
in recent months to catch up with market dominators TikTok and Kuaishou .
TikTok, known as Douyin in China, is part of the entertainment
ecosystem that Beijing-based ByteDance is building
ByteDance also runs the popular Chinese news aggregator Toutiao and is poised to overtake Uber as the world most-valued tech startup when it
closes its mega $3 billion funding round.
Weishi other potential rival Kuaishou is, interestingly, backed by Tencent
Kuaishou launched its own video-taking sunglasses in July.
Alongside the smart sunglasses, Tencent has also rolled out a GoPro-like action
camera that links to the Weishi app
Time will tell whether the gadgets will catch on and get more people to post on Weishi.
Snap Spectacles V1 (top) and V2
The spectacles will
go on sale November 11, a date that coincides with Singles Day, the annual shopping spree run by Tencent close rival Alibaba
Tencent does not make the gadget itself and instead has teamed up with Shenzhen-based Tonot, a manufacturer that claims to make &trendy&
Tonot has also worked with Japan Line chat app on camera glasses.
&There isn&t really a demand for video-recording glasses,& says Mi Zou, a
Beijing-based entrepreneur working on an AI selfie app
That because smartglasses are ¬ offering that much more to consumers than smartphones do,& she argues
Plus, a lot of people on apps like Douyin and Kuaishou love to take selfies, a need that smartglasses fail to fulfill.
&Tencent will have to
It could perhaps learn a few things from the Apple Watch, which successfully touts a geeky product as a fashionable accessory,& suggests Mi,
who points out Snap Spectacles& so-far dim reception.
Weishi had not responded to TechCrunch request for comment at the time of writing, but
we&ll update this story with any additional information should the company provide it.
