Rokid, a Chinese maker of AR glasses, will launch its AR Spatial eyewear globally on June 16 via Alibaba’s AliExpress, coinciding with the 618 summer sale event.

As part of the AliExpress “BigSave” program, the glasses will be offered at a US$100 discount, bringing the price to US$568 for a limited time.

The 75-gram glasses connect to a portable hub with a battery and Qualcomm chip to support spatial computing.

Rokid’s official store will join other Chinese tech brands like Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Anker in the BigSave initiative.

The AR Spatial glasses let users view three desktop environments at once and offer a “cinema mode” for immersive viewing.

Rokid, which previously sold through distributors on AliExpress, reported a 600% year-on-year revenue increase in Q1 2025.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ AR’s evolution from niche to mainstream reflects decades-long technological maturation

Rokid’s launch represents the latest milestone in AR’s lengthy development journey, which began with Ivan Sutherland’s head-mounted “Sword of Damocles” display in 1968, widely considered the first AR device 1.

The AR industry experienced a pivotal mainstream breakthrough with Pokémon Go in 2016, which attracted 45 million users at its peak, demonstrating AR’s potential for mass-market adoption beyond specialized applications 2.

Today’s lightweight AR glasses like Rokid’s 75-gram frames mark a dramatic evolution from early systems. The term “augmented reality” itself wasn’t even coined until 1990 by Boeing researchers developing aircraft assembly systems 3.

This technological progression has enabled significant form factor improvements, with modern devices transitioning from bulky headsets to sleeker glasses designs that incorporate advanced features like Rokid’s three-desktop viewing capability.

The global AR/VR market is now projected to reach between $46.6 billion (per the original article) and $96.32 billion by 2029 according to other industry forecasts, reflecting the technology’s growing commercial viability 4.

2️⃣ Chinese AR manufacturers leverage e-commerce platforms to overcome international market entry barriers

Rokid’s strategy highlights how Chinese tech manufacturers are using established e-commerce platforms to overcome the traditional barriers to international expansion.