Bloomberg Businessweek December 20, 2021 pp10-11|Remarks|”Big Tech’s New Vision” “The bridge of your nose is precious real estate for purveyors of smart glasses” by Alex Webb
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As many serious students know all that book and screen work leads to nearsightedness and now tech companies are readying themselves to make another run at smart glasses-an attempt to combine your need for clear vision with your need for information, collaboration, entertainment and for their desire to cover that space with advertisements worth as much as $159/user/year (Meta). Such a device is dubbed “augmented reality, a more complex technology that superimposes information and graphics in your field of view.” Corrective lenses are worn by “three-fourths of Americans.”
Successfully re-launching smart glasses will require technology, manufacturing and sales points that facilitate finding the right fit and style for the user. Eyeglasses are typically purchased at brick and mortar locations working with local laboratories to perfectly align the frames and adjust the lenses. With that in mind, one immediately concludes that Apple and Microsoft are well-positioned, Amazon with great online-customer reach lagging and Facebook/Meta searching for a solution.
This report suggests that Meta is aligning themselves with a ready solution that being EssilorLuxottica SA. You say who? EssilorLuxottica SA (ELS) is the parent company behind Ray-Ban. “Facebook released Ray-Ban Stories:glasses with built-in cameras and headphones that let you make calls, listen to tunes, and shoot photos and videos.” ELS brands include Ray-Ban, Oakley and they make “glasses for the likes of Burberry, Prada, and Versace; and it owns Lenscrafter, Sunglass Hut and more” totalling 8,000 locations much larger than Apple’s 500 storefronts.
Before you race to invest with this idea in mind, a market estimated to be worth $29 billion by 2028, recognize that Google too partnered with ELS but that early attempt “fizzled.” Early adopters will pay the price. As an example Microsoft has introduced “HoloLens smart glasses” with a price tag of $3,500. The rest of us, like our experience with smartphones and smartwatches, will wait and see. The author notes there are other players besides ELS but “teaming up with Meta would solve a problem for both parties.” The industry won’t want to miss out remembering how “the Swiss watch industry…[was eclipsed]...by the Apple Watch.”
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