Latest Headlines – Page 4
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ArticleHalf of eyewear companies’ stocks fully recovered since US 'reciprocal tariffs' announcement
We are updating here our quarterly stock price chart, looking at how eyewear companies’ stocks have recovered from the US “reciprocal tariffs” shock announcement on April 2. To this end, we are boldening in our table below the names of the twelve companies (out of 25) whose share price has ...
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ArticleInflation keeps driving the Brazilian optical market as eyeglasses volumes drop
The Brazilian optical retail value increased by 5.3 percent year on year to 26.9 billion reais (€4.2 bn), accelerating slightly from the previous year (+4.9 percent) according to the annual report of Abióptica, the Brazilian eyewear industry association. However, market dynamics across the different product categories varied sharply from 2023 ...
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ArticleSmart glasses from Xiaomi, or eyewear as consumer electronics
The Chinese company Xiaomi is entering the market for smart glasses, having introduced the “next-generation personal smart gadget” on June 26 at an event of its own, called “Human x Car x Home,” as the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reports. We had been wondering about this since 2021. The ...
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ArticleDelfin shareholders reportedly seek exclusive focus on Essilux investment
A majority of shareholders in the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin would like Delfin to focus exclusively on its investment in EssilorLuxottica and dispose of non-core investments in financial companies, according to a report in the Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore. Delfin is the largest investor in ...
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ArticleSpecsavers FY2024-25 growth largely driven by the UK as most other markets stagnate
Specsavers consolidated its position as the second largest eyewear group globally in fiscal 2024-25 (ended Feb. 28) as its annual revenue increased by 4.3 percent year on year to £4.18 billion (€4.90 bn). Total sales at constant exchange rates were up 7.5 percent, according to the group’s annual review, slowing ...
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ArticleVision Expo switches to a shorter single annual event format with rotating locations from 2026
Vision Expo, the leading eyewear and optical trade show in the Americas, is switching to a single annual event format from 2026, The Vision Council and RX, which co-organize the event, have announced. Since 1988 and with only a short hiatus during the corona pandemic, Vision Expo has run two ...
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ArticleInflation more than offset volume drops in the US optical market ahead of Trump tariffs roll out
The value of the US eyewear market increased by 7.5 percent year-on-year to $18.2 billion in Q1 2025, according to estimates by The Vision Council (TVC) in its latest inSights quarterly report (see table). The US eyewear industry association stressed that all segments achieved year-on-year value increases while volumes only ...
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ArticleNext brand to receive Meta tech is Oakley
We learned back in February, during Chairman and CEO Francesco Milleri’s presentation of financial results, that EssilorLuxottica is hoping to raise the profitability of “margin dilutive” smart glasses in two ways – by effecting a shift through Transitions lenses toward a full range of prescription options and by taking the ...
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ArticleFrance social security to partly refund Hoya’s Miyosmart lens
HOYA VISION Care France has announced that Assurance Maladie, the country’s social security body, will partly reimburse the purchase of its myopia management lenses MiYOSMART, on certain conditions. The measure, which will take effect from June 30, follows three years after the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), the French ...
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ArticleSpanish optical market up 3% in 2024 despite flattish lens sales
The value of the Spanish optical market rose to €2,165 million in 2024 from €2,104 million in 2023 (restated from €2,021 million as announced a year ago) according to the annual report of FEDAO, the country’s federation of optical associations. Last year’s 2.9 percent growth marks a deceleration from 2023 ...
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ArticleRokid’s new AR glasses incorporate a payment system
On June 17, Rokid released its Rokid Glasses, the augmented-reality (AR) smart glasses we covered back in January, but the company has added a feature for customers in China: a payment system. The roll-out is scheduled for June, and more than 250,000 units are on order. The manufacturer’s suggested retail ...
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ArticleAfflelou Group Q3 sales up 5.7%, driven by France
Afflelou Group external sales rose by 5.7 percent year-on-year to €242.4 million in Q3, accelerating from the previous quarter (+3.3 percent), with the group’s French business accounting for approximately three-fourths of additional sales. On a like-for-like basis, total Q3 external sales were up by 3.8 percent versus 2023. For the ...
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ArticleE-commerce software group enters the DACH optical retail market
The Platform Group (TPG), a stock-listed software company based in Düsseldorf, Germany, has announced its entry into the optical and hearing aid market with the acquisition of two local optical retail groups. The investment is the first step in TPG’s long-term strategy to build an omnichannel business in the German-speaking ...
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ArticleArts Optical reports flattish ODM sales in H2, expects 'very tough' US business in 2025
Eyewear manufacturer Arts Optical has reported a 7.2 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to 1,282 million Hong Kong dollars (€143m) in fiscal 2024, in line with its H1 sales performance. As shown in the table below, sales of the company’s ODM division, which accounts for 68 percent of total revenue, ...
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ArticleSnap to make second entry into consumer market for smart glasses
Snap has a new pair of smart glasses, called Specs, designed for street use and slated for release next year. CEO Evan Spiegel spoke of it, as TechCrunch reports, at the latest edition of the Augmented World Expo (AWE), held on June 10-12 in Long Beach, California. Spiegel neither showed ...
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ArticleGerman optical market up on sales mix and inflation as volumes inch further down
The value of the German optical market grew by 3.0 percent year on year to €6,975 million including VAT in 2024, according to the annual report of the Zentralverband der Augenoptiker und Optometristen (ZVA), the German association of opticians and optometrists. We are covering in this article some selected data ...
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ArticleKering Eyewear acquires Lenti from Safilo
Kering Eyewear is adding another layer to its vertical integration with the acquisition of Lenti, the Italian manufacturer of sunglass lenses that has been part of the Safilo Group since 1996. The companies did not disclose financial details about the agreement. Employing approximately 100 people and located in Bergamo, Italy, ...
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ArticleDEG takes over MENRAD’s house brand and three license deals
Design Eyewear Group is acquiring the MENRAD brand as part of the German eyewear group’s “unfortunate insolvency,” announced at the end of last month. The Danish-based group is also taking over three license agreements that MENRAD had with the Jaguar, JOOP! and Morgan brands. The four brands, for ...
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ArticleEssilorLuxottica keeps retail expansion focus on APAC with new acquisition
Malaysian acquisition to add 90 stores to regional retail footprint. Asia-Pacific accounted for 80 percent of new store openings by the group in the last two years.
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ArticleZEISS Vision Care enters ortho-k category with acquisition in Asia
ZEISS Vision Care has announced that it has agreed to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Brigthen Optix, a Taiwanese-based contact lens manufacturer listed on the Taipei stock exchange and focusing on orthekeratology contact lenses. ZEISS said that the acquisition, which is expected to be completed in early 2026, ...
