Smart glasses sector set for rapid growth

Artificial intelligence-powered glasses will experience rapid growth next year as the fast-evolving smart wearable devices become a key gateway for next-generation human-machine interaction and inject new vitality into the global consumer electronics market, experts said.

Driven by the technological iteration and broad application of large language models, these intelligent and lightweight gadgets boast advanced features such as semantic understanding, voice interaction, image recognition and search functions, allowing users to access information more conveniently and interact with their surroundings in real time, they added.

Data from market research company International Data Corp show that global smart glasses shipments will reach 12.8 million units in 2025, up 26 percent year-on-year. Shipments from the Chinese market alone are projected to exceed 2.75 million units, surging 107 percent year-on-year and ranking first worldwide.

In the first half, shipments from Chinese smart glasses manufacturers surpassed 1 million units, accounting for 26.6 percent of the global total. The compound annual growth rate of China's smart glasses shipments is estimated to reach 55.6 percent between 2024 and 2029, taking the top spot globally, according to IDC.

Leading Chinese tech companies are racing to make smart glasses the next mass-market device after smartphones. Alibaba Group recently launched its new series of Quark AI glasses, which are equipped with the company's AI model Qwen and its newly launched AI application Qwen App, to compete with United States-based tech company Meta's smart glasses.

This launch marks another significant step in Alibaba's efforts to turn its advanced AI technologies into real-life applications in the consumer AI market, positioning Qwen as the intelligent core of its expanding consumer ecosystem.

Powered by Qwen, the Quark AI glasses provide intelligent, hands-free assistance for everyday life by combining voice and vision recognition to enable real-time AI interactions. They boast an array of functions, such as instant price recognition, AI-powered Q&A, translation, navigation, AI-generated meeting notes, smart reminders and a live teleprompter.

Users can utilize the gadget to take photos, record videos and listen to music. The glasses have also been deeply integrated with Alibaba's ecosystem, including Alipay, Amap, Taobao, Fliggy, as well as leading music streaming platforms like QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music.

Wu Jia, vice-president of Alibaba Group, said the Quark AI glasses enable Qwen to connect more deeply with the physical world and that Qwen will be integrated into more intelligent terminal devices.

"AI glasses are a uniquely powerful wearable as they consist of everything we envision for an AI assistant," Wu said. "Looking ahead, AI glasses open the door to a revolutionary way of connecting and interacting with computers in the AI era."

Launched in 2016 as a Web browser incubated within Alibaba Group, Quark has become a leading AI-powered information services platform, with over 200 million users in China.