At AWE USA 2025, XREAL CEO and founder Chi Xu delivered a keynote revealing details of Project Aura, the company's upcoming XR glasses built specifically for the Android XR platform in partnership with Google.      

On June 18, IDC released its Worldwide Smart Eyewear Market Quarterly Tracker, revealing that global smart eyewear shipments reached 1.487 million units in Q1 2025, marking a year-over-year growth of 82.3%.

Among them, audio and audio camera glasses accounted for 831,000 units, soaring 219.5% year-over-year, while AR/VR devices reached 656,000 units, growing 18.1%. Meta continues to dominate the global smart eyewear market, with increasing activity not only in the U.S. but also expanding into Western Europe.

IDC forecasts global smart eyewear shipments to reach 14.518 million units in 2025, an increase of 42.5% from 2024. This includes 8.828 million units of audio and audio camera glasses (up 225.6%) and 5.69 million units of AR/VR devices (down 23.9%), with the decline in AR/VR largely attributed to delays in MR product launches by major vendors, pushing shipments into 2026.

In China, smart eyewear shipments in Q1 2025 reached 494,000 units, up 116.1% year-over-year. Of these, 359,000 units were audio and audio camera glasses, up 197.4%, with audio glasses remaining the dominant category. Key players include Xiaomi, Huawei, and SUPERHEXA. The launch of Thunderbird’s V3 also drove significant growth in the camera glasses segment.

Meanwhile, AR/VR shipments reached 135,000 units, a year-over-year increase of 25.2%. Leading brands include PICO, XREAL, Thunderbird, and INMO. Notably, market momentum in China has shifted toward AR & ER (Enhanced Reality), with 86,000 units shipped in Q1, representing 63.8% of AR/VR shipments and a 64.0% increase year-over-year, driven by XREAL, Thunderbird, and Dream Smart.

IDC projects China’s smart eyewear market will reach 2.907 million units in 2025, representing a 121.1% year-over-year increase. Of this, 2.165 million units will be audio and audio camera glasses (up 178.4%), and 742,000 units will be AR/VR devices (up 38.1%).