Smart glasses from Meta and EssilorLuxottica are emerging as the next major computing platform, blending AI, fashion, and infrastructure to evolve beyond smartphones.
Smartphones transformed how we live, but the next era of personal computing may already be in plain sight. Industry heavyweights and Meta are investing billions in a future where AI-powered smart glasses assume the role that our phones play today.
that smartphones were destined to become the next major computing platform. As I study this area, my view of smart glasses as the next computing platform is fundamentally on target.Twenty years ago, smartphones didn’t just arrive—they rewired how we live, work, and connect. Now, as the industry searches for the next transformative platform, EssilorLuxottica CEOthe answer isn't something we need to invent. It's already here, perched on our noses. The world's largest eyewear company—the force behind Ray-Ban, Oakley, and roughly one-third of all glasses sold globally—is making a calculated bet that AI-powered smart glasses will become the primary computing device of the next decade. And if Milleri is right, smartphones will retreat to our pockets, relegated to the role of portable battery packs and backup screens. His prediction may be too extreme, as I still see smartphones continuing to play a key role in our digital lifestyles.Meta’s deepening investment in EssilorLuxottica—now its second-largest shareholder—reveals this is no longer a skunkworks project. This collaboration is a platform play with real momentum behind it. When the second-generation Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses were launched in October 2023, the demand drove sales past two million units. By December 2025, EssilorLuxottica plans to scale production capacity to 10 million units annually—a clear signal that both companies see mass-market adoption on the horizon. Meta's partnership solves the distribution puzzle that killed Google Glass and continues to strangle most wearable technology: getting devices into stores where real people can try them, adjust them, and walk out wearing them. I recently tested this at a Sunglass Hut shop in San Jose. They had a full display of Meta Ray-Ban glasses that sport a screen in the lenses. These glasses also utilize a wristband to control the user interface. After a demo, I fully understood the value of these new glasses, and more importantly, how they work. These glasses are in high demand, so unfortunately, the store did not have any to sell. I could not walk out with one, even though I was sold on how they work and their value.Smart glasses aren't smartphones. They require fittings, prescription lenses, and physical adjustments—services that demand brick-and-mortar presence at scale. EssilorLuxottica's thousands of retail locations worldwide, combined with its manufacturing relationships with luxury brands such as Prada, Armani, and Chanel, create a distribution moat that pure tech companies cannot replicate quickly. While Apple has physical stores worldwide, Google lacks this physical infrastructure. That's why Google just invested $100 million in Korean eyewear brand . Meanwhile, ByteDance, Xiaomi, and Huawei are all rushing products to market, desperate to close the gap before Meta's lead becomes insurmountable.Meta’s equity stake in EssilorLuxottica serves as a strategic moat, securing manufacturing capacity and retail distribution before competitors can negotiate similar arrangements. Mark Zuckerberg has set an ambitious target of five million units by year's end, framing the technology in stark terms: people without AI-powered glasses, he argues, will soon face "For EssilorLuxottica, the partnership delivers advanced R&D capabilities and deeper tech integration. For Meta, it provides manufacturing scale and retail reach that the company could never build independently. The playbook is straightforward: control the hardware, own the software layer, and establish platform dominance before the competition can mobilize. If Milleri and Zuckerberg are correct, the next significant computing shift won't arrive with a bang—it will simply slide onto our faces, as naturally as the glasses millions already wear every day. Disclosure: Google and Apple subscribe to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.
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