By Adam Clark

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's 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.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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February 16, 2026 10:56 ET (15:56 GMT)

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