Meta Signs Long-Term Deal with Ray-Ban to Extend Smart Glasses Partnership
Meta has signed a long-term deal with Ray-Ban, extending its partnership with the company behind the popular sunglasses and eyewear brand. The two companies collaborated on their first wearable eyewear product in 2019, and the first smart glasses were launched last year in multiple countries under the Ray-Ban Meta brand (though not in India), quickly outselling their predecessor. Earlier this year, the Ray-Ban Meta eyewear received an update that added support for new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features.
EssilorLuxottica, the company that owns Ray-Ban and Oakley, announced Tuesday that it had signed a deal to extend its partnership with Facebook parent Meta. The company says it will develop “multi-generational smart glasses products” over the next decade, but did not share details about the duration of the deal.
Last year, Meta and Ray-Ban launched the latest generation of smart glasses, which support capturing images and videos with the built-in 12-megapixel camera, making phone calls, listening to music and streaming content with the smart glasses, which can be charged via a carrying case similar to Ray-Ban’s sunglasses and glasses case.
Earlier this year, EssilorLuxottica CEO Francesco Milleri said the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses were outselling the first-generation model, which was called Ray-Ban Stories. “Today, people’s expectations are clearer… hence the success of the second generation,” Milleri said at an event in July.
Ray-Ban Meta Eyewear is currently available in several countries including Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US. The company is yet to launch the wearable smart glasses in India and other key markets.
Meanwhile, meta-rival Snap unveiled the fifth-generation Spectacles on Tuesday at the Snap Partner Summit 2024. Snap’s latest smart glasses come with more immersive AR displays, have micro-projectors and are powered by dual Snapdragon processors. They also have a longer battery life on a single charge compared to their predecessor. Currently, they are only accessible by joining Snap’s Spectacles Developer Program, which has a monthly fee of $99 (roughly Rs. 8,200).
