Facebook parent company Meta strengthened its ties to the rapidly expanding smart glasses market by purchasing a minority share in EssilorLuxottica SA, the largest eyewear producer in the world.
According to insiders who asked not to be named since the discussions are confidential, Meta purchased little under 3% of the Ray-Ban manufacturer, which is a stake worth about €3 billion ($3.5 billion) at market pricing.
According to the sources, Meta, a Menlo Park, California-based company, is thinking about making more investments that would eventually increase its ownership to about 5%, though those plans could alter, reports Yahoo Finance.
Shares of EssilorLuxottica surged the most in three months in Paris. The growing ties with Meta should be seen as a vote of confidence in the eyewear maker and the opportunity in eyeglasses, according to analysts at Bernstein.
“This represents another step in Meta’s commitment to the smart-glasses category,” the analysts said in a research note.
The two companies have been collaborating on AI-powered smart eyewear for a number of years. A pair of Ray-Ban glasses with built-in cameras and an AI assistant that can deliver real-time stock quotes or image captioning was initially introduced in 2021 and is currently sold by Meta.
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Meta and EssilorLuxottica introduced different Oakley-branded eyewear last month. Francesco Milleri, the CEO of the eyewear company, stated last year that Meta was considering purchasing a portion of EssilorLuxottica; however, this plan has yet to come to fruition.
On Wednesday, EssilorLuxottica's market value was €117.3 billion, up as high as 7.1%. In US premarket trade, Meta increased by less than 1%.
Following the Bloomberg story, Warby Parker, a rival eyeglass manufacturer, had a 4.5% increase in the US on Tuesday.
The deal is in line with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, who has made AI a top goal and significant investment for the business. One important component of such strategy is smart eyewear.
According to Zuckerberg, glasses give Meta the opportunity to develop its own hardware and manage its own distribution, whereas in the past it has been forced to distribute its programs and services through smartphones made by other companies.
Because of the arrangement, Meta has access to worldwide distribution networks and more in-depth production skills, which are essential for transforming its smart glasses into mass-market goods.
If Meta's forward-thinking investments prove successful, the merger gives EssilorLuxottica a stronger foothold in the tech sector. Additionally, Meta is placing a wager on the notion that people will eventually work and play while using glasses or headsets.
Although they provide information, so-called non-AR smart glasses don't offer a complete alternate reality experience that would change how users perceive their surroundings. The Bernstein analysts stated that since complete AR is "some years away from being practical," Apple Inc. has also lately shifted to non-AR smart glasses.
GrandView Research projects that the smart glasses industry will increase from $1.93 billion in 2024 to $8.26 billion by 2030.
