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The year 2025 is referred to as the first year of AI glasses.

The "Quarterly Report on the Global Market Development of Smart Glasses" by IDC shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the shipments of the global smart glasses market and the Chinese smart glasses market were 1.487 million and 494,000 units respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 82.3% and 116.1% respectively.

According to IDC's predictions, the global smart glasses market shipments will reach 14.518 million units in 2025, and the Chinese market will reach 2.907 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of 42.5% and 121.1% respectively.

Recently, the AI smart glasses market has made waves several times. Companies such as Xiaomi, Alibaba, 360, China Telecom, and Li Auto have all flocked into this market. On the consumer side, enthusiasm is gradually rising. According to statistics from Tmall, the number of search queries related to smart AR glasses has recently increased by 78% in a week compared to the previous year. On content creation platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Bilibili, reviews related to AI glasses are also increasing rapidly.

However, along with the high popularity also comes a large number of complaints. AI glasses products are controversial in terms of quality, function, price, etc., and a considerable number of early consumers have given negative feedback.

Will AI glasses succeed this time in establishing themselves as the "entrance to the next computing platform"? And what opportunities would this bring to the industry chain if it were to succeed?

01 Big companies rush into the market

Obviously, starting from June, the big companies couldn't wait any longer.

On June 26, Xiaomi officially launched its first AI glasses, which cost from 1,999 yuan. It is defined as a "next-generation personal smart device" and is also the "portable AI entrance." The Xiaomi AI glasses are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip and can perform functions such as photography, videography, Q&A, translation, headphone use, and payment.

According to official data from JD.com, the Xiaomi AI glasses sold more than 10,000 units within 12 hours after the start of the sales event, pushing it to the top of the smart glasses category sales list. Also, in offline Xiaomi Stores, numerous visitors came to try on the glasses, and in many branches, the inventory was quickly depleted.

On July 26, Alibaba announced the progress of the technological development of the Quark AI glasses at the 2025 WAIC. Reports indicate that the Quark AI glasses offer two versions: an AI glasses without a display function and an AI + AR smart glasses with a display function. The version with a display function has priority and is expected to have a two-chip architecture and be equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 + Hengxuan BES2800 chip.

It is known that the Quark AI glasses will deeply integrate the Alibaba and Alipay ecosystems: it is equipped with the Tongyi Qianwen large model and the latest AI capabilities of Quark and also supports functions such as Gaode navigation, Alipay scan payment, Taobao scan search, and Fliggy travel memories. Industry insiders have pointed out that the biggest difference of the Quark AI glasses compared to existing products on the market lies in its deep integration of the Alibaba ecosystem.

Also at the 2025 WAIC, China Telecom Tianyi AI launched its first smart wearable device - the Tianyi AI smart glasses, which cost 1,999 yuan. The product is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 chip and has a 2GB + 32GB storage package, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, and supports 1440P 30-FPS videography. At the same time, it has professional imaging technologies such as EIS electronic anti-shake, LDC distortion correction, and HDR. On a single charge, the battery life lasts for 7 hours, it can play audio for 4 hours, play via Bluetooth for 200 minutes, and do 35 minutes of videography.

It is worth noting that China Telecom is not the only telecommunications provider focusing on AI glasses. All three major Chinese telecommunications providers have taken actions in this area: In the first quarter of 2025, China Mobile planned to launch three high-quality AI glasses on the market and announced that it will introduce more than ten products from four different series in the future. China Unicom developed the eSIM AI sports glasses with Singularity Near Future last year.

On August 14, HTC launched its first AI smart glasses, the VIVE Eagle, which cost 15,600 New Taiwan Dollars (about 3,739 yuan). The glasses are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip and have a 4GB + 32GB storage package, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, two open bass-intensive stereo speakers, and a 4-array microphone system. It can be connected via Wi-Fi 6E or Bluetooth 5.3. The product is equipped with a 235-mAh battery, and the battery life is over 36 hours in standby mode on a full charge, up to 4.5 hours of continuous music playback, and over 3 hours of continuous calls.

In addition, Zhou Hongyi, the founder of 360 Group, revealed in an interview with the media at the recently held 2025 China Internet Conference that 360 will soon launch two AI smart hardware products: an AI smart tape recorder and an AI smart glasses.

There are also reports that the first recording AI smart glasses from Li Auto may introduce the Hengxuan BES 2800 + Yanjiwei ISP system for the first time. It is known that these AI glasses are jointly developed by Li Auto and Goertek, with Goertek responsible for the hardware part and Li Auto responsible for the software part. The product will be integrated with the Mind GPT large model and support Alipay scan payment.

02 The "Underwater War" of the Supply Chain

Xu Chi, the founder and CEO of XREAL, said that the "War of the Hundred Glasses" in the AI glasses market is an "Underwater War." To win, one must solve the core technical problems, including chips, waveguides, and AI.

Among them, hardware is the foundation for the performance of AI glasses and also the main cost factor.

The AI glasses chip accounts for 30% to 40% of the total product cost and is the performance core of the product. Among them, the SoC chip integrates units such as CPU, GPU, and NPU and determines the computing, AI processing, and image processing capabilities of the device.

Currently, there are mainly three common solutions: The first is the System SoC solution, represented by the Qualcomm AR1. It has a high level of integration and strong computing power and can support complex AI functions, but the costs and energy consumption are also the highest. It is mainly used for flagship products.

The second is the MCU-SoC + external ISP solution. This solution has very low costs and energy consumption, but the performance is limited and it is difficult to support complex AI models. It is suitable for entry-level products.

The third is the Two-Core Architecture SoC + MCU. By having the SoC handle the demanding tasks and the MCU take over the energy-efficient scenarios, a balance between performance and battery life is achieved, and the costs are in between.

With the deepening of AI functions, the industry generally faces the core conflict between the sharp increase in computing power requirements and the limitations of energy consumption and battery life. To address this challenge, the industry is taking action on multiple levels: On the one hand, more advanced manufacturing processes such as 6 nm and 4 nm are being used to improve the energy efficiency ratio of the chip. On the other hand, techniques such as dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) and the heterogeneity of large and small cores are being used to dynamically manage energy consumption depending on the current load.

In the future, 3D stacking packaging technology using TSV (Through-Silicon Via) technology may integrate computing and storage units in the vertical dimension, further overcoming the performance and energy consumption limitations. This will be a key support for AI glasses to achieve stronger functions and longer battery life.

The visual functions of AI glasses are realized by CMOS image sensors, whose performance is the foundation for image quality and visual interaction capabilities.

Currently, the Sony IMX681 dominates the market. This type is used by most common products such as Thunderbird and Meta due to its compact size, low energy consumption, global shutter technology that can avoid motion blur, and high compatibility with the common Qualcomm AR1 computing platform. This forms a mature imaging solution and shortens the product development time.

However, with the market's higher requirements for image quality and battery life, the original one-sided supply situation has begun to change. Chinese manufacturers such as Omnivision and SmartSens are entering the market with the cost-effectiveness and adaptability of their products.

Among them, Omnivision has already entered the supply chain of the Amazon AI glasses project. SmartSens introduced the 12-megapixel sensor SC1200IOT for AI glasses in May 2025, which is characterized by a small package size, optimized energy consumption, and improved sensitivity compared to products of the same specification and is expected to go into mass production in the second quarter of the same year.

Since AI glasses involve complex components such as precision optics, sensors, and chip modules, original equipment manufacturers (OEM/ODM) have become a key to the market entry speed of brand manufacturers thanks to their mature manufacturing processes and flexible supply chains.

After integrating the ODM plants of WNC Holding, Luxshare Precision currently undertakes the production of Augmented Reality (AR) glasses and the assembly of consumer electronics components for brands such as Meizu and Oppo.

Another leading ODM manufacturer of smart hardware, Huaqin Technology, has early on collaborated with chip giants such as MediaTek, Qualcomm, Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO and established partnerships in many areas.

In addition, Yidao Information collaborates with Rokid and Huawei, offers rapid adaptation and module development capabilities, and has the OEM approval from Microsoft for hardware. Skyworth has already entered the AR glasses + Huawei ecosystems and collaborates with Pico from ByteDance to address consumer entertainment and social scenarios.

Other manufacturers such as Essilor, Nankai, Cosonic, and AAC Technologies have also quickly adjusted their production lines and dedicated themselves to the development of AI glasses micromodules, optical lenses, and acoustic components.

Industry insiders have pointed out that the AI glasses industry is structurally similar to smart wearable devices, which allows existing OEM manufacturers of wearable devices to seamlessly enter this emerging market first and act as pioneers.

Due to the miniaturization, integration of multiple modules, and daily-use characteristics of AI glasses, PCBs are facing new structural challenges. The design is evolving towards high density, multiple layers, flexibility, and high bending strength. This brings new opportunities for the transformation and upgrading of Chinese PCB manufacturers, and flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs) could become a new growth driver in the consumer electronics field.

The revolutionary aspect of AI glasses is that the environmental perception system and navigation function are integrated into narrow frames and temples to achieve a lightweight design (only 50 grams per pair), which is suitable for daily use. This corresponds to an FPC revolution in the millimeter range.

The length and area of the flexible printed circuit boards required for each pair of glasses reach three times that of a conventional smartphone and carry the transmission of over 20 sensor signals and power supply management.

In addition, the custom-designed FPC neural network must withstand more than 100,000 bending cycles and at the same time have zero signal attenuation at 5G frequencies. This will drive the development of FPCs towards miniaturization and combination with high-frequency computing.

03 No Premature Celebrations

It's too early to claim that "AI glasses will be the next booming sector." In the heated atmosphere, some data also reflect the cold reality.

Data from Chanmama shows that the sales volume of Xiaomi AI glasses in the TikTok flagship store had a strong start and then declined. On the first day of release, it reached a peak, namely 5,000 - 7,500 units per day. After that, it continued to decline. By August 18, the daily sales volume had dropped to 100 - 250 units.

According to statistics from the industry magazine VR Vision, the average return rate of AI glasses on the TikTok platform is between 40% and 50%. Even Xiaomi was not immune...