16 million people buying smartglasses this year, to film people?

Ok, the Report does on occasion surveil people. And that can include video taping? But it's only done without their permission if there's a prurient story involved. We run a respectable tabloid here!

Meta Glasses Crackdown

1440 News

Sept 3, 2026

Meta announced new measures yesterday to block people using its AI-powered smart glasses from filming others without their knowledge. The effort comes as demand for Meta Glasses has skyrocketed, alongside a wave of videos showing men harassing women in public.

The company’s partnerships with Ray-Ban and Oakley have succeeded where other smart glasses endeavors have failed: Last year, Meta sold more than 7 million pairs—more than triple the 2 million sold in 2023 and 2024. The market has skewed young and male (see demographics), with Meta accounting for roughly 82% of global sales. However, some have criticized how easy it is for users to film people without their consent, including by covering up a light indicating recording. Now, Meta says cameras will be disabled if the glasses detect the light has been covered.

Apple and Snap are developing competing products amid predictions the sector will grow more than 60% by 2029. Google is also reentering the market, years after the failure of Google Glass (what went wrong?).

Meta Is the Winner in Smart Glasses. How Big the Business Can Get.

By Adam Clark, Barrons

Feb 16, 2026

IDC forecasts around 16 million pairs of smart glasses will be sold in 2026.

Meta’s smart glasses sales exceeded seven million pairs in 2025, tripling from 2023-2024.

Meta’s Reality Labs, housing smart glasses, reported a $19.19 billion operating loss in 2025, with similar losses expected in 2026.

Meta faces increasing competition in smart glasses from Google, re-entering the market, and Snap, which formed a new subsidiary.

Meta Platforms has quietly built up a notably successful smart glasses business. Now the question is whether the social-media company can take the product mainstream before competitors catch up.

Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses look to be taking off. More than seven million pairs were sold in 2025, according to its eyewear manufacturing partner EssilorLuxottica. That means sales more than tripled from the two million pairs sold across 2023 and 2024.

Demand for the latest model has been so strong in the U.S. that the companies said in January they would have to pause a rollout in other countries.

The product is dominant in a growing sector. Meta had a 73% share of global smart glasses sales in the first half of 2025 according to Counterpoint Research, which expects the market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 60% through to 2029.

Those are impressive figures but Meta needs more. Revenue from the Reality Labs segment which houses its smart glasses operations came to $2.21 billion in 2025, up from $2.15 billion in 2024. That’s not the kind of growth that makes an impact for a company generating more than $200 billion in annual revenue, although the company doesn’t break down how much of its Reality Labs income was generated from smart glasses as opposed to other products.

Meanwhile Reality Labs’ operating losses came to $19.19 billion last year and Meta expects a similar loss from the division this year. While that represents a lot of different projects, there is pressure for the division to start paying its way.

Smart glasses are the big hope to stem those losses. Meta and EssilorLuxottica are looking at doubling smart glasses production capacity to around 20 million this year, or even tripling it to 30 million if demand warrants, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta didn’t respond to a request for comment from Barron’s.

Those would be huge numbers. IDC estimates that sales of extended-reality devices—which includes smart glasses and headsets—came to 14.5 million units in total in 2025. The research firm forecasts around 16 million pairs of smart glasses will be sold in 2026 in total, rising to around 23 million in 2027.

So Meta is aiming to both continue to dominate the smart glasses market and grow at well above the market rate. And it will have to do so while facing increasing competition. Alphabet Google recently confirmed that it will re-enter the market this year. The search company is working with fashion house Kering and eyewear company Warby Parker to develop its own AI-powered glasses.

Meanwhile, Snapchat-parent Snap announced on Jan. 28 that it was establishing a subsidiary called Specs Inc., that will be responsible for its own augmented-reality eyewear. While Snap has already released multiple versions of the hardware, the move opens up the potential for external investors and growth as a distinct brand.

Other notable challengers come from China. Alibaba launched its own smart glasses last year, as did Xiaomi, while there are a host of smaller start-ups across the world.

Meta has its eyes set on the prize but it will face a struggle to keep the top spot.