On December 11, the concept stocks related to AI glasses showed active performance. Earlier, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting to analyze and study the economic work for 2025, at which it mentioned expanding domestic demand and promoting the integrated development of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation. Nowadays, AI glasses, which integrate industries such as AI and optics, are developing with great momentum, and the "hundred-glass battle" is imminent.

Why is the AI glasses track heating up?

"AI glasses are undoubtedly one of the most important terminals in the next decade." Recently, Xu Chi, founder of XREAL, said. Since November, the field of AI glasses has continued to heat up. Baidu launched Xiaodu AI glasses, Looktech and Gudong Technology released new products, and Shanji Technology completed a multi-million-yuan Series A financing. At the same time, Thunderbird Innovation announced that a new AI shooting glasses will be released soon, and Shanji Technology will also release new products in December.

This upsurge is a microcosm of the high attention received by the AI glasses market this year. As Ray-Ban Meta has verified the feasibility of the technical path of AI glasses, tech giants such as Apple, Google, Samsung and Amazon have also begun to lay out AI glasses. Domestically, manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei and Meizu have all laid out in the field of AI glasses.

According to wellsenn XR data, the global sales of glasses in 2023 were about 1.56 billion pairs; it is predicted that in 10 years, the global sales of glasses will reach about 2 billion pairs; starting from 2025, AI smart glasses will quickly penetrate into traditional glasses against the background of steady growth in traditional glasses sales; in 2029, the annual sales of AI smart glasses are expected to reach 55 million pairs; by 2035, the sales of AI smart glasses are expected to reach 1.4 billion pairs.

Liu Kai, an analyst at Everbright Securities, said that AI glasses are one of the best landing scenarios for AI at the end side. The emergence of blockbuster products has verified the product logic, and tech giants have laid out one after another, continuously increasing the weight of the AI glasses market. It is optimistic about the huge market space generated by the combination of AI glasses and daily needs.

Li Hongwei, founder and CEO of Thunderbird Innovation, mentioned that in addition to changing the digital world, whether the large AI model can change the physical world is a very important direction, and may even be the most important direction. So for large model companies, everyone has been looking forward to it for a long time. AI glasses are the best new carrier for AI to land, so from the perspective of the company, the promotion of the industry and the promotion of users, its outbreak is very reasonable.

"With the gradual popularization of smart wearable devices, consumers' acceptance of products with both technological attributes and fashion functions has increased, creating more possibilities for the smart glasses market. Compared with early smart glasses products represented by AR glasses, AI audio glasses also have an advantage in price, and are closer to traditional glasses in price. Tech giants have entered the AI glasses market and launched products, attracting more resources and talents to invest in this field, further promoting the development of AI glasses." Xia Yongfeng, founder and CEO of Fengchao Technology, said.

Is there a route dispute over AI glasses?

"AI glasses must first be a comfortable and reliable pair of glasses, and then a smart device with AI functions. For the new category of AI glasses, the joint venture model between technology enterprises and professional glasses enterprises is a key element to promote the rapid development of this category." Li Hongwei said earlier.

To this end, Thunderbird Innovation and Doctor Glasses announced the establishment of a joint venture company. Jiehuan AI audio glasses operating company Fengchao Technology has strategic cooperation with Baodao Glasses, Baoshida, Doctor Glasses, etc. Rokid and BOLON glasses jointly launched new products, Meta cooperated with Essilor, Xingji Meizu joined hands with Yashi Group, and Shanji Technology joined hands with LOHO.

"AI glasses are undoubtedly a huge opportunity in the next few years, but we are still thinking clearly about our own direction. Today's Meta Ray-Ban still has an obvious gap from the real AI glasses. In this 'hundred glasses battle', few players are really committed to narrowing the gap." Xu Chi sighed.

At present, AI glasses have quietly appeared in different routes, mainly including three forms: AI audio glasses, AI photo glasses, and AI + AR glasses, with technical overlaps between them. Earlier, with the rise of the metaverse, AR glasses became the most concerned entrance, and many major technology companies poured in with capital. At present, they are gradually moving towards AI + AR glasses with more competitive advantages.

At the same time, because AI audio glasses eliminate the optical machine display module, the design of related components such as batteries and motherboards is simplified, making the product form lighter, with higher wearing comfort and daily portability, and at the same time, the cost and price are greatly reduced, which is becoming a new outlet pursued by new entrants.

Wang Zishen, an analyst at Lotu Technology, believes that the lightweight design of smart audio glasses has a friendly user experience and low wearing discomfort. More importantly, the application scenarios are clear, and the user's equipment learning cost is low. At present, the market of head-mounted smart devices represented by smart audio glasses is not yet mature, and enterprises that take the lead in layout are likely to seize the next growth point.

Is there a route dispute in the industry? Xia Yongfeng mentioned that smart glasses, as an intelligent product of traditional glasses, should be a good-looking, easy-to-use and intelligent product. Audio, video and AI functions are not opposing routes, but manifestations of different market demands and technical capabilities. In the future, products may tend to integrate multiple functions rather than compete with single functions.

"The core of this problem is what form of tailoring the glasses function can achieve a good balance between user needs and technical implementation. At present, the route dispute is not obvious. In the recent one or two years, the sales volume of AI glasses is larger than that of AR glasses, and much larger. Then, by a certain time, say around 2027, the open growth of AR glasses will exceed that of AI glasses, and AR glasses will integrate all the functions of current products." Li Hongwei judged.

Where will AI glasses go?

For a while, the "hundred-glass battle" is imminent. In this round of AI glasses upsurge, it can be roughly divided into three camps: Internet giants, mobile phone companies and AR glasses enterprises. Capital injection is undoubtedly a strong catalyst for the AI glasses market, accelerating market penetration, and will also promote technological innovation, product iteration and ecological improvement.

Xia Yongfeng believes that at present, the development of smart glasses is still in the exploration stage. Due to the limitations of hardware performance, software ecology and user experience, VR and AR glasses are facing the situation of "hot concepts but cold markets". Technical development and market acceptance are still urgent problems for traditional smart glasses. However, the popularity of AI large models this year has opened up a new direction for smart glasses. Compared with early traditional smart glasses, AI smart glasses have higher practicality, faster R&D and technical iteration speed, which can further promote the commercialization process and market popularization potential.

"As capital and resources gradually pour into the smart glasses field, industry technology will become more mature, and manufacturing costs will continue to decline. But in the future industry reshuffle, only brands with core technologies and practical functions can stand out. At the same time, with the deepening of market education, consumers' requirements for brands, quality and services will continue to improve. Those brands that have in-depth cooperation with traditional glasses manufacturers, pay attention to offline channel layout and provide high-quality services and experiences will take the lead in the competition." Xia Yongfeng said.

The maturity and innovation of technology have laid the foundation for the rise of AI glasses, and the growth of market demand has promoted the rapid development of AI glasses. What trends will there be in the AI glasses field next year?

Xia Yongfeng mentioned that the development of AI glasses next year will focus on technology integration, scenario-based applications and hardware optimization. At the hardware level, product design will be more lightweight and comfortable. In terms of appearance design, AI glasses will pay attention to diversified and fashionable styles, integrating trendy elements to cater to the aesthetic preferences of different users and attract a wider consumer group. At the functional level, AI large models will be deeply integrated with smart glasses to further optimize practical functions such as notification broadcasting and foreign language translation. Through the interconnection of glasses with mobile phones, cars, smart home and other hardware, and through technologies such as natural voice interaction and multi-modal perception, the threshold of use will be reduced, and more possibilities for new scenario applications will be explored.

AI is undoubtedly an important direction. Li Hongwei mentioned that in addition to AI, there are two other important directions. One is the introduction of traditional glasses design or the capabilities of traditional glasses, including the glasses themselves, wearing experience, materials, myopia matching, etc., including the switching between myopia glasses and sunglasses. The other is the improvement of basic experience. Shooting, audio and other aspects are very important. How to make the shooting speed fast enough? Since glasses cannot stand by at any time, it is very important to make the process from starting shooting to finishing taking images fast enough.