Why Won't Snap Build Camera Glasses?

Evan Spiegel says Snap will not invest in camera glasses because they are not 10 times better than the phone, and a new idea that misses the bar is not worth building.

Snap built camera glasses more than a decade ago and learned the limit the hard way. Hands-free point-of-view video while kayaking looked exciting, and getting the camera out of a pocket felt like a real opportunity. The phone already covers the job. A person kayaking can pull out a phone and make a great video, and a hardcore user can put a GoPro on their head. Camera glasses sell today for low hundreds of dollars, maybe 150 bucks or 200 bucks. Willingness to pay is very low and the market is quite small. A hit still would not become a platform. The glasses have no operating system, do not understand the world, and do not run applications, so the price gets undercut very quickly. The prize at the end of the rainbow is very small, and the customer benefit is negligible.