Snap Shakes Up Smart Glasses Team, Cuts Jobs, Changes Leadership

Sources state Snap Inc has shaken up personnel within its hardware lab (used to make its wearable video-camera glasses), inclusive of cutting some jobs this week and changing its leadership team earlier this month.

Snap Inc has confirmed it has changed the lab’s leadership, Mr Steve Horowitz, to another role, in another division of the company. Horowitz has been replaced by former Googler Mark Randall, a former direct report.

A spokesperson for Snap has confirmed Mr Horowitz will explain Snap’s technology strategy to outside partners, whilst working on potential acquisitions

The company has confirmed about a dozen staff members within the lab have lost their jobs, primarily those in marketing-based roles.

The news follows the public listing of the LA-based company earlier this year.

Snap Inc has previously stated it is more than a social media app maker, informing the marketplace it would transform the way consumers would collect and create media items, via the creation of ‘cool’ camera items.

The first such device from the company was notably Snap’s Spectacle glasses, used to capture circular video from a first-person perspective, which would then be uploaded to Snapchat’s social media platform for sharing.

At the time of launching, the company witnesses significant hype, with long lines forming around exclusive pop-up vending machines in the United States. Since then, sources state the device’s sales haven’t generated significant revenue for the company.

Word is, Snap Inc is pursuing an interest in drone technology.

Since its IPO in March, Snap’s stock has slumped 19%.