Meta and Ray-Ban owner Essilor Luxottica are in talks to double or even triple their smart glasses production capacity, Bloomberg reports.
Less than a year ago, when EssilorLuxottica revealed that it had sold 2 million Ray-Ban meta glasses to date, it told investors it planned to increase its annual production capacity to 10 million by the end of 2026, citing the product’s “tremendous success.”
Then, during its third-quarter investor conference call in October, EssilorLuxottica told investors that its smart glasses business was “extremely strong” and now accounts for more than a third of its revenue growth, and that it was accelerating its schedule for annual production capacity of 10 million pieces.
What is EssilorLuxottica?
French-Italian giant EssilorLuxottica is by far the world’s largest eyewear company. It owns iconic brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Oliver Peoples and Persol, and has exclusive licenses with major fashion companies such as Prada, Armani, Burberry and Chanel. It also owns Sunglass Hut, which has a total of approximately 18,000 retail stores worldwide.
Meta has previously partnered with EssilorLuxottica on six smart glasses products:
Bloomberg reports that Meta and Essilor Luxottica are in talks to double this production target to 20 million units per year and potentially triple it to 30 million units if future demand warrants.
Meta wants to further build on its lead in the smart glasses market and expand its footprint before competition from Apple and Google begins, according to Bloomberg.
Google has repeatedly teased HUD-equipped smart glasses at events like TED and I/O, and last year it collaborated with glasses companies Gentle Monster and Warby Parker on Gemini smart glasses, and announced it would work with Kering Eyewear in the future. Multiple South Korean news outlets have reported that Samsung plans to launch a Meta Ray-Ban display competitor this year powered by Google software, a strategy similar to the Galaxy XR headset.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported in October that Apple was moving staff away from its cheaper and lighter vision headset project to prioritize early shipments of smart glasses. Apple’s first glasses could be announced as early as this year, ahead of a 2027 launch, the report claims.
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The reported talks between Meta and EssilorLuxottica come after Meta laid off more than 10% of its Reality Labs, smart glasses, VR and Metaverse divisions, including three entire VR game studios. The company previously acknowledged that it would be “shifting some of its investments away from the Metaverse into AI glasses and wearables,” and it appears that this strategy is being implemented by reducing spending on VR content and increasing investment in smart glasses production capacity.
