Connected glasses: Meta and EssilorLuxottica extend their partnership

The two companies have just signed a new long-term collaboration agreement, under which they will work together over the next decade to develop the next generation of ‘smart glasses’. The partnership between the eyewear empire and the Silicon Valley giant began in 2019 with the launch of Ray-Ban Stories: smart glasses capable of taking photos, filming videos and answering calls. The product immediately caught the attention of the global market.

“We have the opportunity to turn glasses into the next major technology platform, and make it fashionable in the process”. That's how Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commented on the extension of the partnership with Franco-Italian giant EssilorLuxottica.

For over 60 years, Luxottica has been known as a leader in the production and distribution of eyewear on the world market. The company was founded by Leonardo Del Vecchio, who died at the age of 87 and was the protagonist of a successful entrepreneurial story. After the 2018 fusion with the French company Essilor, the group began a campaign to acquire prestigious brands in the eyewear world.

Today, the partnership with Meta promises to go beyond the simple marriage of fashion and technology: the ambition of both companies is to create not just a useful accessory, but an essential part of everyday life. This collaboration, which has already given rise to two generations of Ray-Ban smart glasses, has made wearables accessible and enabled consumers to appreciate their potential.

Demand has thus increased in markets where the product is already available, including the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and several European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

After a record year in 2023, the Franco-Italian group presented its financial results for the first half of 2024 a month ago. Sales rose by 5.3% to a total of 13.29 billion euros. In the second quarter alone, sales rose by 3.8% to 6.955 billion euros. And it appears that the Ray-Ban-Meta models made a major contribution to this success, thanks to the exponential growth in demand they met with.