AI glasses ignite the "century battle"

Author | Huang Yu

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

In September 2023, Meta partnered with Ray-Ban to launch the second generation AI glasses, Ray-Ban Meta, igniting the AI glasses market, with sales surpassing 2 million units, making it the first AI glasses to exceed sales expectations.

Seeing the infinite potential of the AI glasses market, interest in AI glasses has continued to rise since the second half of last year, with numerous players entering this field, all benchmarking against Meta, aiming to create the second blockbuster AI glasses.

As a leading AR company in China, Thunderbird Innovation does not hide its ambition to surpass Meta. On January 7, during CES, known as the "Spring Festival Gala of the tech circle," Thunderbird Innovation held a launch event themed "Meta, Beyond," officially releasing the Thunderbird V3 AI shooting glasses.

Li Hongwei, founder and CEO of Thunderbird Innovation, stated that 2025 is destined to be the year of the century-long battle for AI glasses, and all of this was triggered by the second generation AI glasses, Ray-Ban Meta, which swept the entire market upon its launch.

Li Hongwei openly expressed his admiration for competitors. He stated that as a software-based company, Meta has the same attention to detail in the design of the second generation Ray-Ban Meta as Apple does, and that Meta is the best choice for smart glasses under 3000 yuan in 2024, without exception.

Thunderbird Innovation's goal is also very clear: to ensure that the Thunderbird V3 surpasses Meta in terms of experience across headphones, cameras, AI, and glasses within the same price range. "Truly standing on Meta's shoulders, designing a product that surpasses Meta."

It is reported that Thunderbird Innovation began product development as early as May 2022, initially designing two products, V1 and V2, which were both prototype models based on cameras. However, after Meta's stunning release in September 2023, Thunderbird Innovation decided to leverage previous experience, start over, and develop the third version prototype.

The Thunderbird V3 AI shooting glasses that ultimately reached the market are equipped with the Falcon Imaging System, Tongyi Qianwen's exclusive customized large model, the first generation Snapdragon® AR1 flagship chip, customized speakers, and many other innovative technologies.

It is worth mentioning that the Thunderbird V3 is also the first AI glasses in China to be equipped with a customized large model. On the first working day of 2025, Alibaba Cloud announced an exclusive strategic partnership with Thunderbird Innovation, with Alibaba Cloud's Tongyi series large model providing exclusive customized full AI technology and product support for Thunderbird Innovation's AI glasses, making the Thunderbird V3 the first product to be launched from this collaboration.

In addition, to attract more consumers, Thunderbird Innovation has also shown sincerity in pricing. Currently, the cheapest version of Meta available in China is about 2899 yuan, while the final price of the Thunderbird V3 is set at 1799 yuan (The glasses case set version is 1999 yuan, and the sunglasses version is 2299 yuan).

The Thunderbird V3 will undoubtedly fire the first shot in the AI glasses century battle of 2025.

The "Battle of the Glasses" is about to break out. Since 2024, many domestic manufacturers have announced the launch of AI glasses one after another.

Currently, players entering the AI glasses track in China can be mainly divided into three categories: first, AR glasses manufacturers, such as Thunderbird Innovation, Li Weike Technology, Rokid, etc.; second, smartphone manufacturers, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Starry Meizu, OPPO, etc.; third, large internet companies, such as Baidu, ByteDance, etc.

Many AI glasses products have rapidly emerged both domestically and internationally. For example, abroad, there are Ray-Ban Meta, Solos AirGo Vision, Frame AI smart glasses, etc.; domestically, there are Thunderbird V3, Li Weike Meta Lens Chat, Jiehuan AI audio glasses, Starry Meizu StarV Air2, etc.

As Li Hongwei said, "The glasses track has never been as lively as it is this year," with startups to giants, from the internet to mobile companies, almost overnight, all tech companies have begun to enter the glasses track.

AI large models will trigger a terminal revolution, and among many terminal devices, AI glasses are regarded as one of the best carriers for the implementation of AI large models.

The market potential for AI glasses is enormous. According to a research report by Zhongtai Securities, the current development stage of the AI smart glasses track can be compared to smartwatches in 2014, with significant growth expected in the future.

A report from CICC pointed out that after multiple rounds of product iterations, a successful paradigm for AI glasses may have emerged, with an estimated shipment of about 2 million units in 2024, a penetration rate of 0.1%, and a market size of about 3.65 billion yuan. Looking ahead, AI glasses are expected to create the next mobile terminal.

According to wellsennXR's prediction, starting in 2025, against the backdrop of stable growth in traditional glasses sales, AI smart glasses will quickly penetrate the market. By 2029, the annual sales of AI smart glasses are expected to reach 55 million pairs.

The trend of AI glasses is becoming increasingly strong, and 2025 may be an important time node for the growth of AI glasses products. However, the "Battle of the Glasses" will also lead to fierce industry competition. To stand out in this arms race of AI glasses, major manufacturers must be fully prepared