At the 2026 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE), domestically produced AI glasses emerged as a major highlight. Brands including Qianwen, XREAL, Leiling Innovation, Rokid, and Xiaodu showcased their latest developments, presenting a vibrant and diverse industry landscape. Multiple sources within the AI glasses supply chain indicated that since 2025, sales of domestic AI glasses have maintained rapid growth, steadily increasing their share in the global market. IDC forecasts that global shipments for domestic AI glasses will reach 22.671 million units in 2026, representing a year-on-year increase of 56.3%. Shipments within the Chinese market are expected to reach 4.508 million units, a surge of 77.7% year-on-year. This growth is primarily concentrated in audio glasses, glasses with audio recording capabilities, and AR/VR glasses. However, despite the market expansion, challenges persist. Ramping up production capacity in core supply chain segments remains a major bottleneck limiting industry-wide volume scaling. At the application level, smart glasses have yet to establish sufficiently differentiated user value. Several industry insiders acknowledged that domestic AI glasses still require breakthroughs in hardware lightweighting, world models, and ecosystem development before the industry's "iPhone moment" can truly arrive.
Chinese manufacturers are projected to account for 45% of the global market shipment volume. The Qianwen AI glasses made their domestic debut at AWE. Wu Jianjun, head of AI hardware products for Alibaba's Qianwen consumer business group, introduced the Qianwen AI Glasses G1, which features a dual-chip, dual-system architecture, 64GB of local storage, and a "hot-swappable battery" design on the right temple. Wu revealed that the glasses will soon feature AI-powered real-time voice cloning for translation. By the end of the month, functions like "AI task handling" will also be launched, expanding the application of AI in lifestyle services.
XREAL showcased a range of its smart glasses terminals, including the XREAL 1S and XREAL One Pro. It was reported that XREAL's cumulative shipments have surpassed 700,000 units. The company has established a complete operational loop in Shanghai, encompassing chip design, algorithm development, supply chain collaboration, and global business operations. XREAL plans to deepen its roots in Shanghai, focusing on fundamental research into the deep integration of spatial computing and AI.
During the expo, Leiling Innovation, in collaboration with global comic giant DC, launched the Air 4 Pro Batman Limited Edition, scheduled for domestic release in late March. On the software ecosystem front, Leiling Innovation partnered with Amap to launch the first smart glasses-based local lifestyle application, "Leiling Smart Living," built on the Leiling X3 Pro AR glasses. Leveraging the X3 Pro's binocular full-color MicroLED waveguide technology, the app displays rich merchant information from Amap's "Street Explorer" rankings—such as ratings, average customer spending, and special tags—via full-color AR overlays. It was noted that Leiling Innovation's smart glasses sales in the North American market surged 456.5% in 2025 compared to 2024, maintaining rapid growth into early 2026. A key initiative for this year involves expanding overseas market scale and increasing market share in regions like Japan, South Korea, and Northern Europe. Addressing the recent trend, Leiling Innovation is also making strategic moves. A company representative stated they have integrated the OpenClaw ecosystem into their developer platform, allowing developers to build upon its capabilities. Leiling Innovation will provide token or other forms of support, with an expected launch in March or April.
A representative from JD.com's smart glasses business unit reported that, based on platform data, the smart glasses market has experienced very rapid growth since 2025, maintaining double-digit growth rates throughout the year. Since 2026, bolstered by government subsidies, growth has accelerated further, with some months showing not only year-on-year increases but also consistent month-to-month sequential growth, indicating rising consumer enthusiasm for the product category.
Notably, the shipment share of domestic manufacturers in the global smart glasses market is steadily increasing. IDC predicts that Chinese manufacturers will account for 45% of global shipments in 2026. Domestic brands, particularly technology innovators, are expanding rapidly overseas, showing strong presence in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Ye Qingqing, an analyst at IDC China, believes the core advantage for domestic manufacturers expanding abroad lies in the geographical benefits of the production and manufacturing环节. As the world's primary production base for smart glasses, China handles ODM orders for most international brands. The maturity and scalability of the supply chain give domestic manufacturers significant advantages in cost control and product iteration flexibility. Based on this foundation, the overseas strategy for domestic manufacturers can focus more on channel building and localized partnerships.
Regarding the challenges facing smart glasses adoption, Ye Qingqing stated that at the supply chain level, production capacity ramp-up for core components remains the primary bottleneck. Yield rate control and delivery cycles place higher demands on manufacturers' supply chain management capabilities. Furthermore, the complexity of precise assembly for AI glasses within lightweight structures is high, and some new entrants still face challenges balancing production scaling with quality control. At the application level, AI glasses have yet to establish sufficiently differentiated user value. Ye noted that existing functions often revolve around scenarios easily handled by smartphones, such as photography, translation, and navigation, leaving users without a core driver to transition from initial trial to long-term use. The future requires leveraging the unique attributes of glasses—like first-person perspective interaction, real-time perception, and proactive services—to discover truly integrated, high-frequency, and practical use cases for daily life.
Xu Chi, founder and CEO of XREAL, believes the current smart glasses industry is at a stage similar to that of smartphones around 2005-2006, characterized by a highly fragmented ecosystem. "The mobile phone industry back then had various screen sizes, interaction methods, and operating systems. It wasn't until the iPhone emerged that the entire smartphone industry was reshaped. The arrival of the 'iPhone moment' for the AI glasses industry awaits further technological breakthroughs and innovation." Xu summarized four key directions for this: First, hardware miniaturization requires continuous investment in chip and display technology to make devices truly lightweight with increasingly compact displays. Second, multimodal world models are needed, where AI understands the world not just through text or single images but via comprehensive perception through multimodal video. Third, ecosystem unification is critical; the current industry suffers from diverse device forms and fragmented systems, urgently needing a unified platform akin to iOS or Android in the past. Finally, personalization and long-term memory capabilities are crucial. "If AI glasses cannot accumulate user-specific information and long-term memories, they are merely super search engines with limited practical value. Breakthroughs in these four areas are necessary for the true 'iPhone moment' to arrive." Xu Chi is optimistic that engineering challenges could be overcome within the next two to three years. "We very much hope that by 2027, we can witness the birth of a new generation of AI-interactive smart terminals that will define the next twenty years. Whoever has the opportunity to ignite this revolution will define that 'iPhone moment'." However, Xu Chi noted that, unfortunately, no figure like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk has yet emerged, and no single company can handle everything alone. It is more likely that a global alliance will form, with participants contributing their respective technologies and collaborating to usher in the 'iPhone moment' for smart glasses.
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