According to the latest &#34;Global Smart Eyewear Market Quarterly Tracking Report&#34; released by IDC, the global smart eyewear market is expected to ship 1.487 million units in the first quarter of 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 82.3%. Among them, the global audio and audio-capturing eyewear market is expected to ship 831,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 219.5%; the AR/VR market is expected to ship 656,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 18.1%. The smart eyewear market is still primarily driven by Meta globally, with a focus on expanding in the Western European market in addition to the U.S. market. In the first quarter of 2025, the smart eyewear market in China is expected to ship 494,000 units, representing a year-on-year growth of 116.1%.
Among them, the audio and audio-capturing eyewear market in China is expected to ship 359,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 197.4%. The Chinese audio and audio-capturing eyewear market is currently dominated by audio eyewear products, with major players including Xiaomi, Huawei, and Jiehuan; the launch of the new Thunderbird V3 in the first quarter significantly boosted the growth of the audio-capturing eyewear market. The AR/VR market is expected to ship 135,000 units, with a year-on-year growth of 25.2%. Major players include Pico, Xreal, Thunderbird, and Inmo. In the past two quarters, the focus of the Chinese AR/VR market has gradually shifted towards the AR &amp; ER market, with the AR &amp; ER market expected to ship 86,000 units in the first quarter, capturing a share of 63.8%, and a year-on-year growth of 64.0%, driven by Xreal, Thunderbird, and Meizu.
The global smart eyewear market is expected to reach 14.518 million units in shipments by 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 42.5%, with audio and audio-capturing eyewear shipments expected to reach 8.828 million units, a year-on-year growth of 225.6%; AR/VR device shipments are expected to reach 5.690 million units, a year-on-year decline of 23.9%. The decline in the AR/VR market is mainly influenced by the MR market, as the product rhythm of key manufacturers has stagnated or been postponed, causing some shipments to be delayed from 2025 to 2026.
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The Chinese smart eyewear market is expected to reach 2.907 million units in shipments by 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 121.1%, with audio and audio-capturing eyewear shipments expected to reach 2.165 million units, a year-on-year growth of 178.4%; AR/VR device shipments are expected to reach 742,000 units, a year-on-year growth of 38.1%.
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The Chinese smart eyewear market in 2025 will exhibit the following development characteristics:
1. The audio shooting glasses market will welcome new leading players, and the market landscape will undergo significant changes
Starting from June 2025 until the end of the year, leading mobile phone and internet manufacturers in China will launch their respective audio shooting glasses products, which are expected to reshape the market landscape. With the support of AI large model capabilities, audio shooting glasses will provide more design space for terminal devices in multimodal interactions. In the context where AR products are still immature in terms of technology, cost, and supply, they will bring more GUI extensibility and playability to glasses-shaped devices at a lower market threshold.
2. The smart glasses market will expand more towards traditional eyewear channels
The growth of the audio and audio shooting glasses market in the first quarter of 2025 will partly come from the contribution of offline channel expansion. IDC data shows that in the first quarter of 2025, the retail channel shipment volume of audio and audio shooting glasses in China increased by 75.3% year-on-year. These products are more similar in appearance, weight, and price to traditional glasses, and the myopic population is also a key target user group for these products, which requires the inclusion of professional optometry in the purchasing process. This will drive device manufacturers to align more closely with traditional eyewear channels, such as DOCTOR, Baodao Glasses, etc., and will also facilitate the digital transformation of traditional eyewear channels. For AR/VR products, smart hardware manufacturers and traditional eyewear manufacturers will occupy more advantages in offline channels. The entry of new players further intensifies the channel competition pressure for technology innovation manufacturers, prompting the entire AR/VR market to shift from focusing on online to a diversified omnichannel layout.
3. The AR/VR glasses market will shift its focus to lightweight glasses, while professional-grade glasses will delve into niche markets
In the second half of 2025, the explosion of the glasses concept and the entry of leading hardware manufacturers will jointly drive the high growth of lightweight glasses with displays. Currently, technology innovation manufacturers with a high market share will actively layout lightweight glasses product lines while leveraging their professional technical accumulation to further delve into and capture niche markets. Lightweight glasses provide new consumer application scenarios, including all-weather companionship, light sports health, and light business travel, in the context of gradually saturating and slowing growth of ER viewing glasses, bringing new footholds to the AR/ER market. Additionally, they also offer VR &amp; MR manufacturers with rich technical accumulation new ideas for commercialization and opportunities to regain market share.
IDC China Research Director Pan Xuefei believes that compared to Meta's accelerated pace of global market expansion, the development of the audio shooting glasses market in China in 2025 appears to be more cautious. Although leading manufacturers will successively enter the market in the second half of the year, the overall pace will still be primarily steady. The adaptation and interaction of audio shooting glasses with AI large models and software ecosystems in the Chinese market still need further exploration and excavation.
IDC China Market Analyst Ye Qingqing believes that 2025 will be a crucial turning point for the Chinese AR/VR market. After two consecutive years of decline, the market will finally welcome a new growth window with the development of lightweight glasses. Market competition will become increasingly fierce, and the manufacturer landscape will change rapidly. How to make forward-looking product planning and adjust strategies in line with market changes during this critical period will be the decisive factor for AR/VR manufacturers to capture key market shares in the early stages

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According to the latest report released by IDC, the shipment volume of smart glasses in the Chinese market reached 494,000 units in the first quarter of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 116.1%. The global shipment volume of smart glasses was 1.487 million units, a year-on-year increase of 82.3%. Audio and audio recording glasses performed outstandingly in the Chinese market, with a shipment volume of 359,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 197.4%. The AR/VR market's shipment volume was 135,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 25.2%. It is expected that the global shipment volume of smart glasses will reach 14.518 million units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 42.5%

IDC: In the first quarter of 2025, China's smart glasses market will grow by 116.1% year-on-year