Snapchat’s recent hires hint that the unicorn’s next move may be into hardware.
According to tech website CNET, the company—which is currently valued at $16 billion—has recently hired a number of wearable tech and eyewear experts. These include: Mark Dixon, a former Microsoft (MSFT) recruiter for the HoloLens headset; Eitan Pilipski, who spent five years on Qualcomm’s Vuforia team (which makes augmented reality-related software); and Lauryn Morris, an eyewear designer who created frames for Michael Kors and Zac Posen.
The move into hardware is a surprising one given that Snapchat’s current—and pretty much only—product is an app that’s based on the concept of ephemerality: Users send photos to each other that disappear in a matter of seconds.
Yet the five-year old startup is already punching above its weight in terms of users: According to Nielsen, 41% of Americans under age 35 go on Snapchat at least once a day. Earlier this month, analysts found that the app had caught up to much older, and ten times larger social networking site Facebook (FB) in terms of daily video traffic.
As angel investor Gary Vaynerchuk said to Bloomberg, “The vast majority of people reading this article will have a Snapchat account within 36 months.”
Perhaps that’s what Snapchat’s advantage above the dorky Google Glass is: It’s cool.
Snapchat did not respond to Coins2Day’s request for comment.