Counterpoint: Global AI glasses shipments increased 263% year-on-year in the first half of the year, and the next stage growth may be driven by smart glasses

The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to the “Global Smart Glasses Market Tracking Report” published by Counterpoint Research, global AI glasses (including screenless AI glasses and AR/AI glasses) shipments increased 263% year-on-year in the first half of 2026. Screen-less AI glasses, which are less expensive and weigh less, continue to dominate, accounting for 96% of total shipments. Looking ahead, the AI glasses market will maintain strong growth, and the next stage of growth will be driven by smart glasses.

Screen-less AI glasses refer to AI glasses without a see-through display, such as Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, Xiaomi AI glasses, and Alibaba's Qwen AI glasses G1. AR/AI glasses refer to AI glasses equipped with necessary displays and optical elements to achieve an optical perspective experience. Currently, most AR/AI glasses use waveguide lenses. Typical products include Rokid glasses, Meta Ray-Ban Display, and Alibaba Qwen glasses S1.

Meta's shipments increased 260% year over year in the first half of the year, mainly due to the launch of new Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, the launch of low-cost Meta glasses, new market expansion, and more extensive retail promotions. Peter Richardson, vice president of research at Counterpoint Research, said that the competitive pattern in the global AI glasses market remained basically unchanged, and Meta further consolidated its dominant position in the first half of the year, accounting for about 94% of global shipments. In the field of screenless AI glasses, Meta and EssilorLuxottica have adopted a more aggressive expansion strategy to drive growth in emerging markets in North America, Western Europe, Latin America, India and Asia Pacific.

The challenges in the AI glasses market stem from rising semiconductor prices (especially storage prices), and public concerns about privacy and camera issues in AI glasses. These adverse factors may inhibit market growth in the short term, but Counterpoint expects the AI glasses market to maintain strong growth as Meta (META.US), Google (GOOGL.US), Samsung, and Apple (AAPL.US) increase their investment efforts.

The next phase of growth will be driven by smart glasses, which provide a more proactive and contextual experience, and benefit from advances in intelligently integrated software, operating systems, voice interaction, and ultra-low power sensing and computing technology.

In addition, Counterpoint also anticipates that in order to solve privacy issues related to cameras, more types of AI glasses will appear, including AI audio glasses without a camera and AI glasses equipped with a camera but mainly used for contextual understanding rather than taking pictures or videos.