This year, the craze for AI glasses has spread from overseas to China. The estimated sales of overseas Ray-Ban Meta glasses have reached 2 million pairs, making it the most watched AI hardware this year. In the A-share market, AI glasses concept stocks began to be hotly speculated in mid-August, with Dr. Longtou’s glasses soaring nearly 150% in five trading days. In September, after the market calmed down, a number of AI glasses concept stocks also retreated.
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A few days ago, Li Hongwei, founder and CEO of Thunderbird Innovation, said in an interview with a reporter from the Securities Times, "In the past one or two years, the sales volume of AI glasses will be larger than that of AR glasses, and much larger, but after 2027, the sales volume of AR glasses will exceed "AI glasses." Li Hongwei said that for the new category of AI glasses, the joint venture model between technology companies and professional glasses fitting terminals is a key factor in promoting its rapid development.
Why AI glasses are causing the craze
The so-called "AI glasses" are based on ordinary glasses, adding AI functions, and are considered to be a transitional product iterating from traditional glasses to AR glasses. Unlike AR glasses that focus on combining virtuality and reality, AI glasses focus more on improving voice interaction capabilities through AI.
In Li Hongwei's view, AI glasses must first be glasses that are comfortable and reliable to wear, and secondly, a smart device with AI functions. To ensure the experience of glasses and intelligence at the same time, both parties must work together.
As one of the “Four Little Dragons of AR” in China, Thunderbird Innovation has been deeply involved in the field of AR glasses for many years. "AI glasses need to integrate microphones, speakers, chips, batteries and other components and intelligent capabilities into a compact glasses structure. This is inseparable from the technical support of technology companies." As the founder and CEO of Thunderbird Innovation, Li Hongwei said about AI Glasses have their own understanding, "the ontology of AI glasses" It is a pair of glasses. Its wearing experience, luminosity management and correction effect are all affected by the user's face shape and usage scenarios, and require personalized customization. At the same time, AI glasses also incorporate many electronic components to ensure use in different scenarios. Demand, frames and lenses need to be optimized accordingly.”
According to many experts and scholars interviewed, technological progress, market demand and the layout of major manufacturers have further promoted the craze of AI glasses.
"With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, AR and VR technology, AI glasses, as a carrier, have more powerful functions and a wider range of application scenarios. The advancement of technology has enabled AI glasses to be used in speech recognition, natural language processing, real-time translation, and navigation. It has performed well in other aspects and provided users with a new interactive experience." Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told a Securities Times reporter that technology giants such as Apple, Google, and Meta have entered the AI glasses market and launched a series of innovative products.
Domestic Huawei and Xiaomi also continue to launch new smart glasses products. "The participation of these major manufacturers not only promotes the further maturity of AI glasses technology, but also increases market attention and expectations." Wang Peng said.
"Consumers' pursuit of smart life quality is increasing day by day. AI glasses, with their convenience, intelligence and personalized features, meet the diversified needs of consumers, thus triggering an enthusiastic response from the market." Guo Tao, a senior artificial intelligence expert, told Securities Times reporter.
Domestic AI glasses have gained momentum but not yet
What is the technical strength of domestic smart glasses?
"China's intelligent manufacturing industry is very powerful, and everyone agrees on this." In Li Hongwei's view, the country provides a very good industrial environment, especially in fields such as AR optics and near-eye display technology, which are developing rapidly. Supply chain technology and talent reserves are sufficient. Especially in the field of consumer AR, domestic brands have an absolute advantage. Currently, the major consumer AR glasses brands on the market are domestic brands.
The craze of AI glasses may give domestic AR smart glasses manufacturers an opportunity to overtake them. Take Thunderbird Innovation as an example. The company has launched a number of independently developed AR glasses products. Among them, Thunderbird X2 is the first binocular full-color Micro LED optical waveguide AR glasses, demonstrating the leadership of domestic enterprises in AR display technology. status. Li Hongwei said that the success of the product not only benefits from technological innovation, but also benefits from the domestic perfect supply chain system and strong intelligent manufacturing capabilities.
With the popularity of AI glasses, major domestic manufacturers have also been competing to release new products this year, but there has yet to be a "big hit". In mid-April this year, Xiaomi Mijia smart audio glasses were officially launched; in May, Huawei released smart glasses equipped with the HarmonyOS 4 operating system and connected to the Pangu AI large model; in August, Honeycomb Technology launched the Jiehuan AI Audio glasses.
"At present, compared with similar foreign products, domestic AI glasses still have a certain gap in terms of technical level, market acceptance and brand influence. However, domestic companies are actively catching up, increasing investment in research and development, and constantly improving product performance and quality. " Guo Tao thinks.
"Some domestic companies have begun R&D and production in the field of AI glasses and have achieved certain results." Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, told the Securities Times reporter that although there is still a certain gap compared with similar foreign products, domestic companies are It has advantages in technological innovation and cost control, and with the continuous advancement of technology, the performance and functions of domestic AI glasses products are also constantly improving.
Thunderbird Innovation is also stepping up its deployment of the AI glasses track. "It is expected that by the end of this year, we will officially release Thunderbird X3 AR glasses, jointly release a new generation of AI glasses with Dr., and a new generation of BirdBath viewing products." Li Hongwei said.
AR glasses will catch up from behind
"We have seen that the cooperation between Meta and Ray-Ban is successful, and we have also seen that the cooperation between Huawei and Gentle Monster is also valuable." Li Hongwei believes that for the new category of AI glasses, technology companies and professional glasses experience The joint venture model for distributing terminals is a key factor in promoting its rapid development.
On August 29, Thunderbird Innovation and A-share company Doctor Glasses announced the establishment of a joint venture. The two parties will jointly carry out the research and development, design, sales, marketing and service of the new generation of AI glasses based on Thunderbird Innovation's engineering and technical capabilities in the field of AI+AR glasses and Doctor Glass's advantages in professional optometry, design, and channels. .
Doctor Glass revealed in the institutional survey that the registered capital of the joint venture established with Thunderbird Innovation is 15 million yuan, of which Doctor Glass plans to invest 3 million yuan and holds 20% of the equity of the joint venture; Thunderbird Innovation plans to invest 12 million yuan yuan, holding 80% of the equity of the joint venture company. The joint venture will plan to develop the first generation of photography glasses and audio + AI glasses, and generate revenue through licensing fees.
Although AI glasses are currently leading the smart wearable market with their unique advantages, the industry expects that AR glasses will gain a greater market share in the future with their powerful augmented reality functions.
"AI glasses must first be glasses that are comfortable and reliable to wear, and secondly they must be a smart device with AI functions." Li Hongwei believes that although AI glasses and AR glasses currently have different product logics, AR glasses will catch up. "In the past one or two years, the sales volume of AI glasses will be larger than that of AR glasses, and much larger, but after 2027, the volume of AR glasses will exceed that of AI glasses." Li Hongwei said.
In fact, AR glasses companies represented by Thunderbird Innovation have already laid out their plans in advance. It is understood that Thunderbird Innovation has completed multiple rounds of financing in the past year or so. The main investors include Huatai Zijin, Fosun Fortune, Rongyi Investment, Inno Angel Fund, Sanqi Interactive Entertainment, Doctor Glass, etc. . The financing amount will be mainly used for the technology research and development, mass production and market popularization of consumer-grade AR glasses, as well as promoting the ecological construction of AI+AR glasses.
At the same time, domestic and overseas technology giants such as Meta, Google, Apple, Huawei, and ByteDance are accelerating their deployment in the AR field. Among them, Meta's first AR glasses Orion is expected to be unveiled in 2024.
"Although the market development space for AR equipment is vast, from a global perspective, annual shipments have not reached one million levels, and have not yet reached the category of mass consumer goods." Guo Tao believes that this aspect is that the current product performance still has great progress. space, on the other hand, product prices still need to be further explored. The former requires industry giants represented by brand manufacturers to integrate and lead the industrial chain to build an ecosystem and develop collaboratively, while the latter requires technological upgrading and cost control in all aspects of the supply chain.