Latest Headlines – Page 7
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ArticleSpecsavers’ operating margin stable at around 8%
Specsavers revenue rose by 6.5 percent year on year to £3,985 million (€4,577) for the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2025, driven by the the group’s UK business, according to official filings by Specsavers Optical Superstores. This topline figure is slightly below the £4,180 million (€4,801m) communicated by the company ...
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ArticleHakim Group increased door count by over 30% in 2024
Hakim Group, the largest player in the independent optical retail channel in the UK and Ireland, accelerated its network expansion in 2024 with the acquisition of 65 companies for a total of 121 practices versus 75 in the previous year. The acceleration in 2024 was partly driven by the capital ...
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ArticleSilmo Futurology round-up – Part one
Silmo Paris, held on Sept. 25-28, once again had its Silmo Next: Futurology & Tech Village, this time with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI). Stopping by for a chat with several brands and producers of smart glasses, we noticed what seems to be an emerging predilection for voice command. ...
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ArticleiVision Tech steps up smart glass rollout
Italian eyewear supplier iVision Tech announced plans to step up the rollout of smart glasses in the fourth quarter with the launch of sales of both HJ Tech brand and white-label smart glasses, which mostly incorporate audio functionalities, and to expand distribution and marketing efforts for its iSee smart glasses ...
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ArticleEssilux becomes Nikon’s largest shareholder, gets up-to-20% greenlight
Nikon Corporation officially announced today that EssilorLuxottica has become its largest shareholder with a 10.75 percent stake as of Oct. 1, 2025, up from 9.68 percent on Sept. 10. The eyewear industry behemoth has been progressively building up its stake in the Japanese group in recent months, rising from the ...
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ArticleEyewear stock prices up 11 percent in Q3
The share price of stock listed eyewear companies rose by 11 percent quarter on quarter and on a non-weighted average basis in Q2 2025, outperforming an average of five international stock exchange indexes (see table below). Their growth in Q3 was almost identical to the turbulent previous quarter (10 percent) ...
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ArticleZEISS Vision Care invests in Fielmann-owned teleophthalmology platform
ZEISS Vision Care is taking a 10 percent stake in Ocumeda, the tele-ophthalmology platform owned by Fielmann Group, with plans to acquire up to a 25 percent stake, the company has announced. The transaction values Ocumeda at €100 million. Founded in 2019 and led by a team of ophthalmologists, Ocumeda ...
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ArticleSilmo d’Or awards remitted at the show
Silmo Paris organizers have yet to issue their final report on the 2026 edition of the trade fair that closed its doors last Monday, with attendance figures, but our impression was positive during the four days we spent at the show. We will progressively report on things that we have ...
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ArticleIXI ramps up autofocus glasses supply chain
IXI, the Finnish-based start-up developing autofocus glasses, has announced two major initiatives meant to accelerate its development and prepare for the commercial launch of its product. As previously reported, the company raised $36 million from private equity firms and Amazon Alexa Fund among others earlier this year. ...
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ArticleItalian H1 eyewear down 4% as Europe, China and others partially offset US collapse
The value of Italian eyewear exports in the first half of 2025 fell by 3.7 percent to €2,779 million, dragged down by the collapse of the US market in the wake of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, data from eyewear trade association ANFAO showed. The contraction in exports ...
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ArticleFielmann details 2030 strategic plan at Capital Markets Day
Following the announcement of the main lines of its 2030 strategic plans in July, Fielmann Group released more details on how it plans to reach the new targets at a Capital Markets Day (CMD) held last week. As we have already reported, the German-based retail group is planning to increase ...
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Article1.2m subscribers and 90 new stores among Synsam Group’s midterm targets update
Synsam Group, the leading optical retailer in Northern Europe, announced new mid-term financial and operational targets at a Capital Markets Day (CMD) earlier this week. The first focus point for the group in its presentation was Synsam Lifestyle (SL), its subscription service for eyeglasses. As we previously reported, ...
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ArticleNPO GoodVision has sold 1 million low-priced glasses to people in need, building up local supply chains along the way
EinDollarBrille (also known as GoodVision), an international eye care association based in Germany, has announced that it has delivered one million pairs of glasses since its creation in 2012 by Martin Aufmuth, a former secondary school teacher of physics and mathematics. The association runs its GoodVision Glasses program in eleven ...
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ArticleMeta introduces three products, hints at return to another
The first words of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s speech at Meta Connect 2025, held on Sept. 17-18, were “AI glasses and virtual reality.” Zuckerberg presented so holistic a view of this business line that he tied in a concept the company has been shying away from more or less since ...
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ArticleInspecs posts weak H1 results, appoints new non-executive Chair
Releasing detailed results for its business in H1 2025, INSPECS Group confirmed that its revenue declined by 3.0 percent year on year to £97.6 million (€112.4m) in the period, as communicated in the group’s trading update last month. At constant exchange rates, H1 sales declined by 1.3 percent. These results ...
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ArticleJapan’s top retailer builds 'open factory' to tackle procurement issues and 'transmit the joy of craftsmanship'
Megane Ichiba, Japan’s leading optical retailer under the Megane Top brand, is investing 4.4 billion Japanese yen (€25m) in the extension of its manufacturing plant in Sabae, Fukui prefecture. The group stressed that its investment was aimed at both tackling procurement issues and revitalizing the region. The construction of the ...
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ArticleKering Eyewear and Valentino sign eyewear license as parent companies reframe acquisition deal
Kering Eyewear and Valentino, an Italian fashion brand owned by the Qatari investment fund Mayhoola, have announced the signature of a global eyewear license agreement. Effective Jan. 1, 2026, the eyewear subsidiary of French luxury group Kering will develop and distribute Valentino-branded sun and optical collections. “We are delighted to ...
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ArticleSilmo Paris doubles down on technology
SILMO will be expanding its usual Futurology space at the next edition of the trade show in Paris (Sept. 26-29), rebranding it Futurology & Tech Village and putting the spotlight on artificial intelligence (AI). The area will be divided into four key zones showcasing different applications of AI in the ...
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ArticleCapital increase to enable Multiópticas to expand
Multiópticas secured in August a capital increase of €45 million from its own shareholders and intends to use the funds to carry out a five-year plan to spread out the business, according to the Spanish paper Expansión. “The company’s own shareholders have trusted in this project and disbursed the capital, ...
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ArticleAmazon to join the AR glasses fray
Amazon is developing two AR glasses for two different use cases, The Information has first reported after speaking with people close to the matter. “Amelia”, the first model, is aimed at the online retail giant’s delivery drivers and will probably focus on itinerary guidance. It will reportedly be ready for ...
