Key Takeaways:
- Global smartglasses shipments surged 83% year over year in Q1 2026
- Waveguide-based AR glasses jumped to 42% of the market from 18% a year ago
- RayNeo led with 41% share while Viture surged 281% to capture 34%
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Smartglasses shipments surge 83% as AR market finds its footing
Smartglasses are emerging as the next consumer-tech battleground, with global shipments accelerating 83% in the first quarter as augmented reality models finally gain traction.
Global intelligent eyewear shipments surged 83% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, driven by a 136% jump in augmented reality glasses and a 210% spike in display-less smart glasses, according to Counterpoint Research's latest XR 360 Research Service report.
"The market is being fueled by accelerating adoption of AR and smart glasses as ecosystem development continues to accelerate," the research firm said.
The AR segment underwent a structural technology shift. Waveguide-based AR glasses captured 42% of shipments, up from 18% a year earlier, as more manufacturers entered the segment combining AI capabilities with see-through displays. Older birdbath and flat-prism designs fell to 58% from 82%. RayNeo led the overall AR market with a 41% share, supported by a diversified product portfolio. Viture emerged as a dark horse, surging 281% year over year to capture a 34% share through aggressive international expansion and channel development. Xreal's growth moderated, though Counterpoint said it remained optimistic about the company's longer-term prospects as it pursues an initial public offering.
In display-less smart glasses, Meta held nearly 84% of the market, though its growth was constrained by limited production yields of key components for the Ray-Ban Meta Display and restricted availability in the US market. Even Realities and Alibaba followed as notable challengers, securing 9% and 5% market share, respectively. Counterpoint said Alibaba appears well positioned to strengthen its presence, particularly in China, as it consolidates its smart glasses portfolio under the unified Qwen brand.
Waveguide Technology Reshapes the AR Market
Rokid ranked first globally in the waveguide-based AR segment, benefiting from continued overseas expansion and stronger offline channel penetration. The technology shift matters because waveguide displays offer thinner form factors and wider fields of view compared to birdbath optics — the key barriers that have kept smartglasses from achieving mainstream consumer adoption. Qualcomm, which supplies the Snapdragon chips powering many of these devices, is doubling down on the category. The company recently launched the Snapdragon START program, an AI-based initiative to enable brands to design and scale personal AI devices starting with smart glasses. Qualcomm also announced that Meta has agreed to use its new Dragonfly C1000 data center processor, demonstrating deepening ties between the two companies across both cloud and edge devices.
The Battle for Consumer Adoption
The VR segment, by contrast, continued to struggle. Shipments declined 17% year over year amid weak consumer demand, ageing product cycles, limited new product introductions and more conservative investment from leading suppliers. The divergence highlights a broader shift in the extended reality market: consumers are gravitating toward always-on, lightweight glasses rather than immersive headsets that isolate them from their surroundings. Synaptics, a supplier of touch controllers and interface solutions for the broader IoT market, reported that its core IoT revenue rose 31% year over year in its fiscal third quarter, with its robotics pipeline growing to more than 35 customers globally — a sign that the hardware ecosystem supporting spatial computing is expanding beyond just displays.
The smartglasses market remains early-stage but is attracting serious capital. Qualcomm's push into AI data center components — it forecast more than $15 billion in annual revenue from that business by fiscal 2029 — gives it the financial firepower to continue investing in lower-volume categories like smartglasses. For investors, the key question is which companies will capture the most value: chip suppliers like Qualcomm and Synaptics, display makers advancing waveguide technology, or the brands themselves. Rising memory costs could slow near-term momentum, but the 83% shipment growth suggests the category has crossed an inflection point. The next 12 months, as Alibaba integrates its Qwen AI into smart glasses and Meta resolves its production constraints, will determine whether smartglasses become the next smartphone or the next smartwatch.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
