Smart glasses may be the fastest-growing tech category in the world today, reaching millions of first-time buyers. Mark Zuckerberg's claim that 2025 will be "a defining year that determines if we're on a path towards many hundreds of millions, and eventually billions of AI glasses" suggests that growth will soon explode beyond its enthusiast niche. But is that likely, or is it another ambitious pipe dream like the "Metaverse?"
Meta's recent earnings call highlighted the company's massive growth, but the vast majority of its $48 billion quarterly revenue — an $8 billion YoY growth — came from advertising. Reality Labs had a strong $1 billion revenue thanks to the new Meta Quest 3S and strong Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses sales, but the division still loses about $4–5 billion per year on R&D.
