EssilorLuxottica, Meta’s partner in the smart glasses market and owner of brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley, just reported stronger-than-expected quarterly revenue, driven in part by rising demand for the Ray-Ban Meta. Here’s the breakdown.
In its quarterly results, EssilorLuxottica reported a 7.3% revenue increase, beating a Bloomberg-compiled analyst estimate of 5.9%. It is worth mentioning that at current exchange rates, however, revenue rose by just 3.2%, reflecting the impact of a stronger euro and weaker foreign currencies on international sales.
Still, one highlight from the results was the surge in Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses sales, which more than tripled in the first half of the year, compared to the same period last year.
As reported by Reuters, here’s what EssilorLuxottica Chairman and CEO, Francesco Milleri, and Deputy CEO Paul du Saillant had to say about the results:
“We are leading the transformation of glasses as the next computing platform, one where AI, sensory tech and a data-rich healthcare infrastructure will converge,”
Interestingly, while the current version has been on sale since October 2023, the software has received new features in recent months, such as live translation. This suggests that as the consumer market warms up to smart glasses, new AI-powered features may be helping to further speed up adoption.
Meta’s free rein in the smart glasses market may be about to end
While EssilorLuxottica’s results show that demand for smart glasses is gaining momentum, the rest of the market is also waking up to that.
Just yesterday, Alibaba unveiled the Quark AI Glass, set to launch later this year. Google and Apple are also reportedly working on their own versions, although in Apple’s case, it may be a while before the company has anything to show for it.
While Bloomberg has also reported that Tim Cook has been personally involved in the project, and has requested the timeline to be sped up, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said he doesn’t expect a debut before 2027, contradicting earlier reports that had pointed to a 2026 launch window.
As for Meta, the company recently announced the Oakley x Meta smart glasses, its second collaboration with EssilorLuxottica. It also has the more advanced Orion AI Glasses in the works, which will feature a display. And speaking of displays, the Financial Times recently reported that Meta plans to add a display to its Ray-Ban glasses as soon as H2 2025, although further details on that remain scarce.
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