All Eyewear Intelligence articles in Volume 26 No. 13+14
View all stories from this issue.
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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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PDF NewsletterEyewear Intelligence: Vol 26 - No 13+14
Specsavers FY2024-25 growth largely driven by the UK as most other markets stagnate | German optical market up on sales mix and inflation as volumes inch further down | Spanish optical market up 3% in 2024 despite flattish lens sales | Inflation more than offset volume drops in the US optical market ahead of Trump tariffs roll out | France social security to partly refund Hoya’s Miyosmart lens | ZEISS Vision Care enters ortho-k category with acquisition in Asia | Kering Eyewear acquires Lenti from Safilo | DEG takes over MENRAD’s house brand and three license deals | AKN Group acquires Götti and Eyetech | Afflelou Group Q3 sales up 5.7%, driven by France | E-commerce software group enters the DACH optical retail market | EssilorLuxottica keeps retail expansion focus on APAC with new acquisition | Delfin shareholders reportedly seek exclusive focus on Essilux investment | Next brand to receive Meta tech is Oakley | Smart glasses from Xiaomi, or eyewear as consumer electronics | Snap to make second entry into consumer market for smart glasses | Rokid’s new AR glasses incorporate a payment system | Vision Expo switches to a shorter single annual event format with rotating locations from 2026 | Arts Optical reports flattish ODM sales in H2, expects ‘very tough’ US business in 2025 | An advance in electric contact lenses?
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News briefs
Swiss-Benelux merger in the contact lens e-commerce market
Two European contact lens e-commerce companies, Vision Group and LensOnline, are merging into Vision Group Holdings (VGH), a new entity that will “create a unified platform serving millions across multiple European markets,” they have announced. While both companies operate contact lens online shops, their profiles differ in the sense that ...
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News briefs
Afflelou Group launches new banner
Afflelou Group is launching Magic Afflelou, a new retail banner focusing on its Magic private label collection of eyeglasses and sunglasses with interchangeable clip-on fronts. The retail group has opened two stores in France (Nevers and Paris) and more openings are planned in the country and in Spain. According to ...
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News briefs
EssilorLuxottica among TIME 100 most influential companies
EssilorLuxottica was selected by TIME magazine as one of the hundred most influential companies in 2025. The eyewear industry behemoth was included in the “Innovators” list, one of five categories in TIME’s annual ranking along with “Disrupters,” “Leaders,” “Titans” and “Pioneers.” EssilorLuxottica’s inclusion in the list primarily owes to ...
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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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News briefs
Safilo keeps buying own shares for “future investment opportunities”
Safilo Group has appointed Keppler Chevreux as broker to implement its latest share buy-back program, which was approved by shareholders a few weeks ago. As reported then, a maximum of 15 million shares, or 3.6 percent of the outstanding shares, and a maximum cash amount of €18 million have been ...
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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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News briefs
TPG announces two further acquisitions in Germany
The Platform Group (TPG) has completed the previously announced acquisition of a 50.1 percent stake in Beste Aussichten and Karrasch & Nolten, two German optical retail groups totaling 30 stores, and has also announced the acquisition of Freudenhaus Optik Handels, a premium optical retailer with two locations in Munich, and ...
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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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News briefs
New CEO at ZEISS Vision Care US
ZEISS Vision Care has announced the appointment of Gary Rosenblum to the position of president and CEO of its US subsidiary, in replacement of Jens Boy who has held the role since 2015 and will leave the company at the end of the month. Rosenblum, a senior executive, joins ZEISS ...
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News briefs
VSP Vision reports CSR progress
Releasing its 2024 Social Responsability Report, VSP Vision, Marchon’s mother company, said that it has reached a 53 percent ratio of produced eyewear frames made from sustainable, recycled and biobased materials last year, representing a 61 percent year-on-year increase. The group also stressed that it has switched to fully-recycled demo ...
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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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News briefs
Bausch + Lomb announces refinancing plans update
Bausch+Lomb Netherlands B.V. and Bausch & Lomb Incorporated have increased the size of their senior secured floating rate notes due 2031 from the initially planned aggregate of €600 million to €675 million, the group has announced. The notes will be sold to investors at a price of 99.5 percent of ...
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News briefs
Google reportedly planning to invest $100m in Gentle Monster
Google is about to invest 145.9 billion Korean won ($100m) in iiCombined, the mother company of South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster, according to a press report by The Korea Economic News Daily. Both companies are reportedly in the final negotiation stages for a deal that would give Google a ...
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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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News briefs
Industry report ranks Ophthalmic Optics as one of the most promising sectors in Germany
The optics and photonics sector, including ophthalmic optics, is among the most promising industries in Germany according to a research report by FutureManagementGroup that was commissioned by Spectaris, the German industry association for optics, photonics, analytical and medical technologies. Researchers, who analyzed 25 industries with regard to their ...
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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 ...
