$3.5 billion investment in the world's largest eyewear manufacturer, Meta accelerates the advancement of AI eyewear business

Investing $3.5 billion in the world's largest eyewear manufacturer, Zuckerberg accelerates strategic layout in wearable technology.

According to recent media reports, Meta has invested $3.5 billion to acquire approximately 3% of the shares in EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear manufacturer and the parent company of well-known eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley. This investment may increase to a 5% stake over time, further deepening the collaboration between the two companies on the Ray-Ban smart glasses project, while marking an important step for Meta in controlling its hardware supply chain.

Market analysts believe that this strategic partnership will bring significant synergies to both companies, especially in the emerging wearable technology sector. Meta's smart glasses, priced more affordably compared to Apple's Vision Pro, which costs thousands of dollars, are expected to gain broader market acceptance.

Meta's Ambition for AI Glasses

Meta and EssilorLuxottica have collaborated to develop Ray-Ban smart glasses equipped with built-in cameras and AI assistants, becoming an important product line for Meta to expand its wearable device market. In addition, Meta announced last month a partnership with Oakley to launch AI smart glasses.

The deepening cooperation between the two companies indicates that Meta is actively building its competitive advantage in the wearable device field, especially in smart glasses, which are seen as a key product in the next generation of computing platforms.

Goldman Sachs analyst Louise Singlehurst noted in a report: "We believe Meta's minority stake acquisition in EssilorLuxottica is an important development, highlighting EssilorLuxottica's significance in the emerging wearable device category, which will bring upside potential driven by revenue and capital costs."

Bernstein analysts also stated that the increasingly close ties between Meta and EssilorLuxottica "represent another step in Meta's commitment to the smart glasses category," demonstrating Zuckerberg's long-term strategic planning in this field.

According to application download data from SensorTower, the Ray-Ban app shows "strong" user traction. In April of this year, data shared by Singlehurst indicated that the app has gained good acceptance among users, suggesting that sales of related hardware products may be steadily increasing.

Meta's smart glasses are significantly cheaper than Apple's Vision Pro headset, which costs thousands of dollars, as they do not include complex optical systems. Analysts believe that Apple CEO Tim Cook's misjudgment in pricing strategy may provide Meta with better market penetration opportunities