Newsletter
Sales of Ray-Ban Meta AI-powered smart glasses have increased in recent months. The segment appears to be growing at a sufficient pace to attract the attention of big tech companies. One of those companies would be Google, which would seek a deal with Ray-Ban to manufacture smart glasses with Gemini. However, Meta seems to have the upper hand.
Meta, driven by the success of Ray-Ban smart glasses with its Meta AI assistant, wants to buy 5% of EssilorLuxottica, Ray-Ban’s parent company. According to recent reports, negotiations between both companies are at an advanced stage. However, Google might be trying to “get in the way.”
Google might be trying to “hijack” the Ray-Ban and Meta deal for smart glasses
Google reportedly wants to bet heavily on the smart glasses segment. These devices seek to offer a smart assistant and AR navigation experience in a compact and comfortable format. The company is also working with Samsung on an XR headset that will arrive this year, as the South Korean giant confirmed this month.
Currently, Google seems to be looking for the ideal partner to launch Gemini-powered smart glasses, and the Ray-Ban brand seems like a strong candidate. EssilorLuxottica already has experience in the segment after working with Meta. Also, the company worked with Google in the past, manufacturing Google Glass.
While Google’s previous attempt in the segment didn’t go well, the industry has changed a lot. It’s been almost a decade since the Google Glass launch. Now, sales of this type of product are increasing, so they seem more accepted by people. Also, integrating the glasses with the Gemini assistant would give them a strong additional appeal.
Google stealing the Ray-Ban deal from Meta is “extremely unlikely”
That said, according to The Verge, it is “extremely unlikely” that Google can stop the deal between Meta and EssilorLuxottica. After all, the negotiations seem to be in a very advanced state. Still, the source claims that the Mountain View giant has recently approached EssilorLuxottica to talk about possible Gemini-powered glasses.
So, it’s quite likely that Google will have to find another partner. It will be interesting to see who the company chooses to make its smart glasses a reality, or even think about the (distant) possibility that Google “steals” the Ray-Ban brand from Meta for its glasses.