EssilorLuxottica, a global leader in ophthalmic lenses, frames, and sunglasses, and a strategic partner of Meta in its expanding portfolio of smart glasses, sees smartphones possibly going extinct soon, replaced by AI-powered smart glasses. Yet, there appears to be a huge disconnect between these aspirations and the underlying demand environment.
The CEO Of EssilorLuxottica: "[Smart Glasses] Are Poised To Become The Central Device In People's Lives, Possibly Replacing Smartphones"
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the Chairman and CEO of Essilor Luxottica, Francesco Milleri, made waves when he postulated that smartphones might soon become obsolete, foreseeing in the "near future hundreds of millions of smart glasses interconnected with each other, and with the people who wear them creating huge communities."
Milleri went on to note that EssilorLuxottica was increasing its production capacity for smart glasses to 10 million units per annum by the end of 2026 to meet Meta's demand metrics, and to boost capacity for other smart glasses as well, including its own Nuance Audio glasses which integrate hearing aid tech.
Yet, when one examines the prevailing paradigm, there appears a huge disconnect between the aspirations expressed by Milleri and the underlying demand trends.
Consider the fact that most analyst currently see the Total Addressable Market (TAM) for smart glasses rising to 60 million units by 2035. This pales in comparison to the global smartphone sales, where Apple alone shipped 232 million iPhones just in 2024.
Of course, this is not to say that these devices won't eventually become the dominant everyday tech medium. However, given the underlying demand trends, such a paradigm shift is not likely to occur anytime soon.
Meta's Growing Smart Glasses Prowess
We noted in early October that Meta was leading in the smart glasses sphere right now, forcing Apple to halt all work on a high-end version of its Vision Pro headset so as to prioritize work on AI-enabled smart glasses.
This comes as Meta recently showcased its all-new Ray-Ban Display smart glasses, featuring:
- An in-built display that is large enough to read text, watch a small video, view directions, and see live translations.
- At 42 pixels per degree (ppd), the display offers higher resolution than any of Meta's other consumer VR headsets.
- With a custom light engine and waveguide that delivers brightness of up to 5,000 nits, Meta claims the glasses work well both indoors and outdoors.
- The Meta Neural Band acts as a control interface for these glasses, enabling users to navigate apps using hand gestures by leveraging electromyography (EMG) to detect signals sent between the brain and the hand.
- The Ray-Ban Display glasses are now available for purchase for $799.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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