There is little precedent for a company with its roots in software and social networking succeeding in the notoriously difficult consumer hardware business. "Snapchat is going to have to continue to be really innovative and distinctive. Snapchat had about 100 million fewer downloads than Instagram in 2016, according to market research firm App Annie. Snap has recruited hardware experts from Apple, Alphabet Inc's Google, Nest and Motorola, according to an analysis of LinkedIn profiles. The sunglasses surprised even Snap's earliest investors, who say hardware was not in Snap's initial pitch to them.

Source: India Today February 20, 2017 09:46 UTC