The AI glasses race is heating up with fierce competition, as listed companies chase the trend with "GPT on the nose bridge"

With the rapid development of large model technology and the attractive performance of the popular product Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, AI glasses are set to initiate a new wave of smart glasses in 2024.

As a new blue ocean in the smart wearable market, AI glasses have not only attracted investments from tech giants like Apple, Samsung, and Amazon, but also domestic manufacturers such as Huawei and Meizu are also laying out plans for AI glasses. Recently, Baidu released its native AI glasses, Xiaodu AI glasses, equipped with a Chinese large model, adding fuel to this hot track of AI glasses. The AI glasses craze is stirring, and listed companies in the supply chain are gearing up to seize the opportunity in this trend.

In the capital market, the concept of AI glasses has garnered significant attention. Since the end of September, AI glasses concept stocks have seen a continuous rise for three months. Recently, AI glasses concept stocks have been active, with several stocks such as Zhuoyue Technology hitting their price limits during trading.

Despite the heated competition, the AI glasses industry may still be on the verge of explosion. A report from Western Securities points out that 2025 is expected to be the year of the AI glasses explosion. According to data and forecasts from WellsennXR, starting in 2025, AI smart glasses will rapidly penetrate the traditional glasses market while maintaining stable growth in traditional glasses sales, with sales of AI smart glasses expected to reach 1.4 billion units by 2035.

New products from various manufacturers debut, signaling the start of the “Hundred Glasses War”

The earliest AI glasses can be traced back to 2012 when Google launched Google Glass. However, due to failing to achieve expected market performance, Google ultimately suspended sales of the consumer version of Google Glass in 2015. After that, Meta and Ray-Ban collaborated to launch the first generation of smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories, in September 2021, but only about 300,000 units were sold by February 2023.

In September 2023, Meta and Ray-Ban unveiled their second-generation product, Meta Ray-Ban, weighing less than 50g, with a starting price of $299. After its release, it became a huge hit, especially after the addition of AI features in April 2024, leading to a rapid increase in sales. According to IDC data, the shipping volume of Meta Ray-Ban reached 360,000 units in Q4 2023 and 100,000 units in Q1 2024; by Q2 2024, the product’s shipping volume had exceeded 1 million units.

The popularity of Meta Ray-Ban has completely ignited market enthusiasm for AI glasses, prompting domestic manufacturers to follow suit swiftly.

In May of this year, Huawei held the Huawei Summer All-Scenario New Product Launch Conference, officially launching the Huawei Smart Glasses 2 frame sunglasses, priced at 2,299 yuan. This product is equipped with Huawei’s HarmonyOS 4 operating system and has integrated Huawei’s Pangu AI large model. In August, Hiview Technology released the Jiehuan AI audio glasses. In September, Interstellar Meizu launched the AI+AR smart glasses “StarV Air2,” which feature an AI system capable of real-time translation, voice recognition, and intelligent assistant functions.

Since November, domestic manufacturers have been intensively releasing news related to AI glasses, indicating the visible “battle” in the market.

First, Baidu launched its native AI glasses, Xiaodu AI glasses, equipped with a Chinese large model, at the 2024 Baidu World Conference, featuring first-person perspective shooting, walk-and-ask, object recognition encyclopedia, audiovisual translation, intelligent memo, and other functions, expected to be launched in the first half of 2025.

Subsequently, Return Technology released Looktech AI smart glasses on November 16; on November 18, Rokid launched the AI+AR glasses RokidGlasses, integrating Alibaba’s Tongyi Qianwen large model algorithm capabilities; on November 20, Flash Technology announced the completion of several million yuan in Series A financing, previewing the upcoming launch of China’s first mass-produced AI shooting glasses in collaboration with LOHO and iFLYTEK on December 19.

Notably, according to Wellsenn XR, Samsung Electronics also finalized the AI smart glasses project plan in early November, equipped with Google’s Gemini large model, with plans to launch the product in Q3 2025.

The concept of AI glasses is hot, and listed companies in the supply chain are seizing the opportunity

Mobile phone manufacturers and large internet firms are pouring into the AI glasses market, pushing the heat of AI glasses to a new peak, and listed companies in the supply chain are also gearing up to seize the opportunity in this trend.

In terms of the components of AI glasses, the display lens is undoubtedly an important part, involving several key industries such as optics, display, and chips. Among listed companies, companies like Crystal Optoelectronics and Sunny Optical Technology can provide key optical components for AI glasses, such as lenses and optical waveguides; SoC chips from companies like Hengxuan Technology and Rockchip can provide computing and processing capabilities for AI glasses.

Leyard stated on its investor interaction platform that the company’s optical motion capture technology can be used for precision verification and evaluation of positioning, 4D gesture tracking, etc., for AI glasses, and has already provided products for several AR/VR glasses manufacturers both domestically and internationally.

In the sensor field, Weier shares revealed that the company’s image sensor products have advantages in small size and low power consumption, highly adapting to the demands of AR and VR, including AI glasses, among other terminal customers. In addition, the LCOS products developed by the company, with their high resolution, compact form, low power consumption, and low cost characteristics, will provide more support for economic adaptability and feasibility for emerging markets such as AR and VR, including AI glasses.

Companies like Goertek, Luxshare Precision, and Huaqin Technology have become significant manufacturers of smart glasses due to their strong capabilities in complete machine assembly.

Among traditional glasses manufacturers, Boshi Eyewear began planning for smart glasses in 2022 and has established collaborations with AI glasses brands in the industry (such as Thunderbird Innovation, ROKID, Meizu) to provide fitting services and sales channels for smart glasses lenses. In August of this year, Boshi Eyewear partnered with Thunderbird Innovation to jointly invest in establishing a joint venture. According to Thunderbird Innovation, both parties will jointly conduct research and design for the next generation of AI glasses, with the first AI glasses expected to be released by the end of 2024.

Recently, several listed companies have rushed to reveal their latest layouts in the AI glasses field.

Jingwang Electronics stated that the company’s HDI/Anylayer, soft and hard combined boards, soft boards, and carrier-like boards could be applied to AI smart glasses, and the company is closely monitoring the development trend of terminal intelligence, actively participating in discussions and pre-research of related solutions to prepare for the next step in product category expansion.

Huanxu Electronics introduced that AI glasses have high requirements for being lightweight, compact, and easily assembled, and that SiP module technology can meet these needs and has advantages. The company’s SiP module products have already been used in customers’ similar products. At the same time, the company’s wireless communication SiP module can be applied in AI smart glasses, with mass production expected in 2025.

Tiankeyuan recently stated that the company has reserves in open audio technology and spatial audio technology, and possesses production capabilities for various audio and optical-electronic products including headphones and smart glasses. The company continues to pay attention to the technological development and application in the field of artificial intelligence and will plan its layout of related businesses according to market demands, its own business, and technological development needs. Due to commercial confidentiality requirements, it is inconvenient to disclose information regarding AI glasses OEM and potential customers.

“The company has signed cooperation agreements with several domestic and foreign brand glasses clients in the AI glasses category. Currently, the company’s AI glasses products are still in the sample and optimization development stage and have not yet reached the mass production stage. The relevant market is also in the early stages of industry development, and consumer habits need to be cultivated, with uncertainties still existing in market expansion,” Yidao Information stated.

On November 25, Yingqu Technology stated on the investor interaction platform that the company is actively conducting pre-research work on AI glasses-related products. On November 26, Xingchen Technology stated on the interaction platform that the company has invested R&D resources in AI glasses chips and is working with some clients, planning to launch products in 2025. The low-power technology accumulated in outdoor scenarios without networks and electricity in the security field, industry-leading ISP visual effects, and advanced process SOC capabilities will all be applied to AI glasses.

As various enterprises enter the market to “add fuel,” AI glasses concept stocks have seen multiple booms in the secondary market this year.

In mid-August, AI glasses concept stocks sparked a surge, with several stocks hitting their price limits. Boshi Eyewear saw its stock close with four consecutive “20CM” price limits from August 13 to August 16, with a total increase of over 107% in four trading days; on August 16, Asia Optical closed with a four-day price limit increase. Since the end of September, AI glasses concept stocks have continued to rise for three months, with 65 out of 68 AI glasses concept stocks on Dongcai experiencing price increases.

Recently, AI glasses concept stocks have continued to rise. On November 28, Zhuoyue Technology hit its price limit during trading, closing up 5.28%; Zhongke Lanxun closed up over 10%, Mingyue Lens rose over 6%, with Boshi Eyewear, Yidao Information, Juxin Technology, Hengxuan Technology, and others also following suit.

2025 is expected to be the year of the AI glasses explosion

Although many manufacturers are actively laying out AI glasses, the industry may still be on the verge of explosion. The industry generally believes that 2025 may be the year of the AI glasses explosion.

A report from Zhongyin Securities believes that recent entrants into the AI glasses market have strong capabilities in hardware and software definition, and possess the ecosystem of smartphones as a central hub, and their entry will accelerate industry trends for AI glasses: on the one hand, it is expected to better improve application scenarios and hardware design for AI glasses; on the other hand, it will also better expand the interactive experience between glasses and mature application ecosystems (such as smart assistant calling apps), enhancing the practicality of AI glasses. AI glasses are expected to become a new type of hardware terminal from “0 to 1,” with 2025 looking to be a significant release point for various heavy products in AI glasses.

“Currently, AI glasses are still in the early stages of development, but the industry’s heat is rising, and the vision space is considerable,” notes Zhongyin Securities.

“Tech giants are actively laying out, and 2025 is expected to be the year of the AI glasses explosion,” states a report from Western Securities, believing that with the addition of interactive multimodal large models, the interaction model of AI glasses has shifted from “hardware serving users” to “large models serving users.” Interactive multimodal large models can understand various input methods, such as voice and images, helping glasses products achieve more efficient and simplified human-computer interaction, thereby improving user acceptance.

From the perspective of the industry chain, the report from Everbright Securities indicates that because AI smart glasses currently do not require displays, the upstream AR optical display and optical links can be removed, and the upstream technology development in the industry chain is mature, making all links in the domestic industry chain very mature and complete. AI glasses are expected to welcome a breakthrough moment.

According to Wellsenn XR data and predictions, global eyewear sales are expected to be around 1.56 billion units in 2023; it is predicted that eyewear sales will reach around 2 billion units in ten years; starting in 2025, AI smart glasses will quickly penetrate the traditional eyewear market while maintaining stable growth in traditional eyewear sales; by 2029, annual sales of AI smart glasses are expected to reach 55 million units; by 2035, sales of AI smart glasses are expected to reach 1.4 billion units.

However, according to Yin Hang, an analyst for smart PCs and hardware at Zhongguancun Online, the development of the AI glasses industry also faces considerable challenges.

“From a technical perspective, as AI applications continue to deepen, the requirements for chip performance are increasingly high, and the inclusion of real-time computing and cloud AI computing has made battery life a new challenge. In terms of comfort, although AI glasses have significantly improved comfort compared to headsets, there is still room for further enhancement.”

Yin Hang believes that looking ahead, the long-term development of the AI glasses industry depends on technological advancements and innovation capabilities. Among these, large models play a crucial role. Large models are the underlying driving force for the development of sub-fields within AI glasses, and their diversification and hardware optimization directly impact the application ecosystem and user experience of AI glasses. Future AI glasses will not only need powerful localized computing capabilities but also be compatible with and support various devices, achieving diversified development paths.