Tencent to launch wearable video-recording sunglasses
Tencent is set to launch wearable video-recording sunglasses, called Weishi smartglasses, as the company seeks to compete in China’s booming short video market.
Tencent's smart glasses will help the company tap into the booming short video market
The glasses feature camera lens in the frames which enable the wearer to film video. The glasses will go on sale on 11 November, coinciding with Tencent's rival Alibaba’s annual 11.11 shopping extravaganza.
The glasses have been compared to Snap’s smartglasses with market experts pointing to Tencent’s status as a long-term investor in Snap.
The camera shares its name with Tencent’s short video app Weishi, which means ‘micro videos’ in Chinese. Tencent is hoping to gain a larger slice of China’s exploding short video market which is dominated by Douyin (Tiktok) and Kuaishou. In September, Weishi was the most popular free app in Apple App Store.
China’s online video market reached 76% penetration earlier this year buoyed by the intense competition in the short video market.