Global smart glasses shipments more than doubled in the first half of 2025, led by strong demand for Meta Platforms’ devices and new offerings from companies like Xiaomi, according to Counterpoint Research.

AI-powered smart glasses made up 78% of total shipments, while the rest were mainly basic smart audio glasses.

Meta Platforms held over 73% market share, with other major Chinese players including Huawei, RayNeo, and Xiaomi also active in the market.

Xiaomi, based in China, launched its first AI glasses in June, selling about 50,000 units so far, according to third-party data.

The Xiaomi device became the fourth-bestselling smart glasses model and third in the AI segment, Counterpoint said.

Counterpoint forecasts the smart glasses market will grow at an annual rate above 60% between 2024 and 2029.

Other tech firms, including Alibaba and ByteDance, are expected to enter the market in the second half of the year.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Smart glasses overcome decade-long market struggles with AI integration

The current boom represents a dramatic turnaround from smart glasses’ troubled history, where early attempts consistently failed to gain consumer traction.

Google Glass launched in 2012 but was discontinued by 2015 due to privacy concerns and practicality issues, forcing Google to pivot toward enterprise applications with Google Glass Enterprise Edition in 20171.

The transformation to AI-powered functionality appears to have addressed the fundamental use case problem that plagued earlier generations.

Where previous smart glasses struggled to justify their existence beyond novelty, AI features like voice interaction and visual assistance are providing clear value propositions that drive sustained consumer demand.

Meta’s success with the Ray-Ban partnership demonstrates how integrating smart technology into familiar eyewear designs, rather than creating entirely new form factors, has finally achieved market acceptance.

2️⃣ Market size reveals smart glasses remain niche despite explosive growth