All Article articles – Page 7
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Laclarée could have commercial autofocals next year, thanks to seed round
The French start-up adds a Chinese shareholder.
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Amazon enters the prescription eyewear segment in Germany
After years of rumors and speculations, the e-commerce behemoth is entering the prescription eyewear market for good, starting with Germany, where its subsidiary announced earlier this week that it has started selling prescription eyeglasses. Amazon Optics, as the service is branded, is offering on amazon.de a wide selection of branded ...
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Safilo topline slipped below the €1bn mark in 2024, but margins slightly improved
Reporting preliminary financial results, Safilo Group has announced that its Q4 2024 revenue decreased by 1.6 percent at current rates and by 1.1 percent at constant rates, amounting to approximately €235 million, according to our calculations. The company pointed out that, excluding the residual effect of the Jimmy Choo license ...
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Seaport-ODLM banks on portfolio diversification to boost export business
On the heels of a new European distribution partnership with Bollé Brands, French-based Seaport-ODLM is adding several brands to its portfolio in 2025 to address new market segments and grow outside its domestic market.
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UK eye care health sector creates new online hub to predict disease, staffing trends
Britain’s eye care sector has collaborated to create a new online data tool to help providers plan and design future services to deal with the National Health Service’s (NHS) large case backlog. The new hub forecasts the number of people expected to have a wide range of eye diseases and ...
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Meta developing smart glasses for Oakley – among other things
Meta is working on a model of smart glasses designed for athletes and to be sold under the Oakley brand, according to Bloomberg. That something like this might occur we suggested back in September, when EssilorLuxottica and Meta announced their long-term partnership. We speculated at the time that the new ...
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ZEISS looks for innovation in product, processes and business models to support commitment to global eye health
In December last year, ZEISS Group reported that sales of its consumer markets division, of which vision care is the main component, rose by 3 percent year-on-year to approximately €1.7 billion. The company stressed that, despite “a noticeable reluctance on the part of customers to spend,” vision care sales generated ...
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French NPO takes deep dive in ophthalmic lenses and eyewear frames’ carbon emissions
French consumers purchased 32 million lenses and 16 million frames in 2023, for a total carbon footprint of 130 tkCO2e. The report looks at the share of various components (raw materials, energy, transport, packaging, etc.) in the mix.
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To see or not to see? Rokid seeks a middle way between AR and VR
Rokid has been exhibiting at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for years, but we’ve covered the company only once before, in April 2020. Back then police in China’s Zhejiang Province were wearing Rokid smart glasses for their thermal sensors, to gauge the skin temperature of people within a meter’s radius ...
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Vision Expo East presents show novelties, program ahead of first Florida edition
About one month from the first edition of Vision Expo East in its new location – Orlando, Florida – after almost four decades in New York, The Vision Council (TVC), the US eyewear association that co-organizes the event with RX, hosted an online preview webinar last week to present the ...
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National Vision reports improved performance in Q4, reshuffles top management
Sales were up by 3.8 percent in Q4 and in the full year. Adjusted profit ratios are expected to be in line with last revised outlook.
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Kits CEO: 'We are building an eyewear business for the customer of tomorrow'
On its Investor Day last September, Kits Eyecare concluded its presentation with a bold and somewhat cryptic claim: “Setting our sights on 500 in 5.” This made for an obvious first question when we had to opportunity to sit down with Roger Hardy, co-founder and CEO of the Canadian-based pure ...
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Switching to a direct distribution model, Revo announces several appointments in Europe
As part of its switch to a direct distribution strategy worldwide, Revo has announced several appointments of seasoned managers in key European markets. Filippo Valentini, Managing Director of Dido Agency, already representing Imago Eyewear in Italy will represent the sunglasses and goggles brand in this market. Eric Gonguet, who ...
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New report looks at US frames buyers criteria and habits
Focused inSights 2024: Frame Buyers, the latest report by The Vision Council, the US eyewear industry association, focuses on the motivations and choice criteria of US eye care professionals (ECPs) in their procurement of optical frames and sunglasses for their shop. The results are based on an online survey of ...
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Sector market capitalization up 20% last year, boosted by Essilux
The total market capitalization of 25 stock-listed eyewear companies rose by 20 percent to €230 billion in 2024, with EssilorLuxottica and the rest of the Top 5 accounting for 90 percent of the growth.
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A look at myopia management in Europe with ECOO
While Asia, and China in particular, remains by far the largest myopia management market globally, the category is gaining traction in Europe at all levels: eye care professionals (ECPs), industry suppliers, health authorities and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the general public. In a written interview with Dr Sylwia Kropacz-Sobkowiak, ...
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EssilorLuxottica’s M&A program gets an early start into the new year
EssilorLuxottica is acquiring Pulse Audition, a French-based startup specializing in AI-driven hearing-aid technology for smart eyewear.
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Familiar faces at the CES Awards for 2025
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced the winners of its CES Innovation Awards for 2025. Submissions were up 13 percent this time around – to 3,400 – and the number of AI-related submission was up by almost 50 percent. Below are the winners most relevant to the eyewear industry. ...
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Eyecare industry urges UK govt to allow more private sector involvement in primary health provision
Public eyecare in Britain faces a radical shake up with more use of private sector services under potentially controversial plans by the new Labour government to reform the struggling National Health Service (NHS). Industry representatives have put forward proposals in response to Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s call to clinicians across ...
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Bliz Eyewear launches rebranding after EssilorLuxottica takeover
A specialist in sports eyewear, ski goggles and helmets, the Swedish brand Bliz Eyewear was acquired by the EssilorLuxottica Group in January 2024, joining the company’s sports portfolio and adding a new entry-level price point. This portfolio also includes the sports eyewear brands Oakley and Costa. But Bliz has actually ...