IDC: Global smart glasses shipments increased 74.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, and the audio and audio shooting categories surged 287.5%

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to the “Global Smart Glasses Market Quarterly Tracking Report” recently released by IDC, the global smart eyewear (Smart Eyewear) market shipped 4.296,000 units in the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 74.1% over the previous year. Among them, the global audio and audio shooting glasses market shipped 2.994 million units, up 287.5% year on year; the AR/VR market shipped 1.32 million units, down 23.2% year on year.

In the third quarter, Meta (META.US) launched the second generation of Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley sports line, and new Meta Display products. With innovative hardware and rich product matrices, it quickly gained market attention, and its market share reached 75.7%, maintaining a stable dominant position. In addition to Meta, four Chinese manufacturers, Xiaomi (01810), Thunderbird, Xreal, and Viture, were selected among the top five in the global market, and the innovative ability and international competitiveness of Chinese manufacturers in the field of smart glasses continues to improve. In terms of regional performance, the North American, Western Europe, China, and Asia Pacific (excluding China and Japan) markets all achieved year-on-year growth of more than 50%. Among them, Western Europe ranked first in the world with a growth rate of 106.5%.

Chinese market

In the third quarter of 2025, China's smart eyewear (Smart Eyewear) market shipped 623,000 units, an increase of 62.3% over the previous year.

China's audio and audio shooting glasses market shipped 454,000 units, up 79.2% year on year.

The third quarter experienced a brief month-on-month decline after the centralized launch of new products, but the year-on-year growth rate was still significant. Among them, the proportion of products officially announced to support large models continues to rise, reaching 49.5%. The industry landscape will continue to evolve in the next four quarters, and leading manufacturers and innovative brands will continue to accelerate the pace of new product launches. New products from major manufacturers such as Ariquark G1, Xiaodu AI glasses, and Ideal AI glasses have been officially released. Rokid and Bolon launched collaborative AI glasses, and Meizu released new Snap products. At the same time, new products from companies such as ByteDance are also being actively prepared. They are expected to be launched one after another in the next few months, injecting more vitality and choice into the market.

AR/VR market

China's AR/VR market shipped 169,000 units, up 29.4% year on year.

The AR&ER category is still the main growth force, with a market share of 83.4% in the third quarter, up 142.3% year on year. Among them, Thunderbird maintains its leading position in the market through continuous product iteration and innovation, and plans to launch a new generation of products in the fourth quarter; Xreal One Pro was launched domestically, further enhancing the brand's influence in the market; the much-publicized Rokid Glasses achieved official shipment, driving market popularity; and Inmo promoted growth through deepening enterprise-level cooperation. In the fourth quarter, new products such as the Quark S1 and Viture Luma series will also be launched one after another. It is expected that the market structure will be further optimized and application segments will be expanded.

The overall performance of the VR & MR market is still under pressure, with shipments falling 61.2% year-on-year in the third quarter. However, with the launch of new products such as the Apple Vision Pro second generation in the fourth quarter, the market is expected to receive a certain increase in attention and driven by technological innovation, which will help stimulate the vitality of the industry and drive further evolution of product forms and user experience.

IDC predicts that in 2026, China's smart glasses market shipments are expected to reach 4.508 million units, up 77.7% year on year. Among them, shipments of audio and audio shooting glasses are expected to be 3.434 million units, up 68.1% year on year; AR/VR equipment shipments are expected to be 1.073 million units, up 62.1% year on year.

In 2026, China's smart glasses market will show the following development characteristics:

Leading manufacturers are entering the market, and the smart glasses market has entered large-scale growth

From the end of this year to the beginning of next year, many leading companies will intensively release new smart glasses. The giant's strategic layout will not only drive technological innovation and product iteration, but also further promote the evolution of smart glasses towards the next generation of smart interactive entrances. As more manufacturers join, market recognition and user expectations continue to rise, and the industry is gradually moving from an early exploration stage to a stage of large-scale growth.

At the same time, the focus of competition is also shifting to multi-dimensional competition such as ecological collaboration, content integration, and scenario implementation. Major brands actively seize market opportunities by building differentiated product matrices and improving service systems. Overall, the competitive pattern and ecosystem of the smart glasses market will be more diverse, and industry development and market growth trends will become more obvious.

The implementation process of AI applications in the smart glasses market is accelerating

In the third quarter, the proportion of products supporting AI on the end side of the Chinese smart glasses market reached 35.7%, and products connected to large models reached 53.9%. Mainstream chip platforms already have strong AI computing power and can support multi-modal AI functions such as voice recognition and image processing, and technical bottlenecks at the hardware level have basically been eliminated. Currently, the application of AI in smart glasses has gradually changed from function display and marketing to actual scene implementation. Some products have achieved initial application in high-frequency requirements such as voice assistants, real-time translation, and photographic identification.

Overall, however, there is still plenty of room for improvement in the deep empowerment of AI capabilities in more complex and diverse scenarios, mainly limited by the speed of progress in the software ecosystem and content innovation, as well as the continuous cultivation of user habits and scenario education. In the future, the industry's focus will gradually shift from AI access rates to actual implementation of AI capabilities and optimization of user experience. Manufacturers will deepen AI application innovation around high-frequency scenarios such as life, office, entertainment, and travel.

Ye Qingqing, market analyst at IDC China, believes that the smart glasses market will enter a competitive stage centered on user experience. Wearing comfort, the practicality of AI functions, and ecological perfection will be the keys to determine the market pattern. Leading manufacturers promote the transformation of smart glasses from early access products to everyday smart assistants through ecological collaboration and scenario innovation. In the future, the industry will continue to optimize the supply chain and open ecosystem to help the market achieve large-scale popularization and value increase.