When it comes to eyewear, you are starting to see smart eyewear enter the mix. It seems like every gadget is getting connected. If you are looking to invest in a pair of smart glasses yourself, you may be interested in learning about the market. Here are some key things to know about the market including the trends and sizes.
1. More Companies Entering The Mix
You can anticipate the growth to be exponential with more and more companies entering the mix. Several companies have already announced they will be offering their take on smart glasses. Some of these companies include Alphabet, Microsoft, Sony, and more. You will find that a lot of brands are getting into this field for the AR aspect, but some of them are looking to approach things differently. For instance, Bose is entering the same with more of a focus on audio.
2. Style
One of the things that have been and continue to hold back the adoption of smart glasses is the lack of stylish options. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to design them so they are aesthetically pleasing. After all, you are packing in so much technology into the frame. Therefore, the frames tend to be rather bulky and unattractive. A lot of the more trendy glasses you will find in the marketplace have tin bezels and frames. Thus, the technology that is packed into these glasses can make them less than stellar in terms of style. That being said, brands are finding ways to improve the style of the glasses.
3. Technology
The trend to cram more and more technology into the glasses is there. You are finding a lot of brands find ways to cram excellent technology into the glasses which makes the glasses much more useful. The technology that’s being introduced into these glasses is only making the glasses increasingly practical for everyday consumers.
4. Gaming
The trend to incorporate gaming into the space is certainly there. You will find a lot of brands focusing more on gaming than any other aspect of AR.
What’s Holding It Back?
The biggest thing that’s holding the adoption of smart glasses back is the high price. Another thing would be the concerns surrounding privacy. However, that’s not nearly as much of an issue as the price tag. Smart glasses are still high priced relative to some of the other gadgets out there. The tech is still new and it’s still expensive. Brands know it’s a niche product right now so they cannot mass produce and get the economies of scale to the point where the glasses are cheap enough to make it an easy buying decision.
The market size of these glasses is expected to grow by nearly 3.4 billion from 2020 to 2024 [1]. You can anticipate a lot of consumers having their smart glasses by then. They are going to go down in price which makes them much more attractive as a buy for the average consumer. Not everyone is going to be willing nor able to pay early adopter prices.