Snapchat, after a disastrous earnings report that showed it’s not picking up new users as quickly as expected, is planning an overhaul.
The company reported 178 million people use its service daily, falling short of an expected 180.5 million. It also confirmed reports that its major foray into hardware, Snapchat Spectacles, had been a failure and cost the firm nearly $40 million. The planned redesign will be an attempt to make the network more intelligible to newcomers and advertisers who want to leverage Snapchat’s popularity. In prepared remarks to investors, the company hinted that it may take a leaf out of other networks’ playbooks and use data analysis to personalize the content users see.
“We are developing a new solution that provides each of our 178 million (daily users) with their own Stories experience leveraging the tremendous benefits of machine learning without compromising the editorial integrity of the Stories platform that we have worked so hard to build,” said Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s chief executive.