Revamp at Essilux owner Delfin hits snag
A plan for Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio to become the largest shareholder in the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin that controls EssilorLuxottica is up in the air, after banks financing the €10 billion deal sought new guarantees from Delfin itself.
TVC urges US importers to stay on their toes for new tariffs wave this summer
In an online webinar on June 15, The Vision Council (TVC), the US eyewear industry association, updated its members on the fast-changing and multi-layered issues related to the country’s import duties. While the first part of the discussion focused on advice for importers to navigate the complex refund process for ...
Tradeoffs and a bet – Snap introduces the hardware for Specs
Snap gave the world a look at its first augmented-reality glasses for the general public, called Specs, on June 16 at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) – the world’s largest trade show for AR. Exhibiting alongside it in Long Beach, California, were Google and XReal, announcing their Project Aura XR ...
Specsavers annual sales up 9%, led by the UK and Ireland
Specsavers has reported an 8.9 percent year-on-year increase in group revenue to £4,540 million (€5,250m) for its fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2026, accelerating sharply from the 4.3 percent increase in the previous year. The UK-based group is thus consolidating its position as the second-largest optical retailer in the world, ...
Essilux and Applied Materials partner on R&D to tackle the AR glasses display conundrum
EssilorLuxottica has announced a joint development agreement with Applied Materials, a global leader in materials engineering, in the wearable technology domain. The objective of the partnership is “to develop lightweight, high-performance optical systems critical to scalable AR experiences.”
Qualcomm invests $10 million in Inspecs, launches smart eyewear turnkey program
Qualcomm Technologies, the global leader in wireless chipsets for electronics, is investing $10 million in Inspecs, the UK-based eyewear group, announced yesterday. We estimate that the investment, which is being made through the purchase of newly issued ordinary shares, will give Qualcomm a 6–7 percent stake in Inspecs. The proceeds ...
Brazilian eyewear market: 4.5% growth in 2025 reveals mixed picture
The Brazilian optical retail market value rose by 4.5 percent year over year to 28.1 billion reals (€4.8bn), according to the annual report of Abióptica, the Brazilian eyewear industry association. While the sector expanded approximately twice as fast as the country’s GDP, growth was lower than initially expected (5-7 percent).
Japan Eyewear Holdings reports strong Q1 revenue and margin expansion
Japan Eyewear Holdings (JEH), the group operating the Kaneko Optical and 999.9 retail chains, reported a 15.8 percent year-on-year increase in Q1 revenue to ¥4,854 million (€26m). This performance marks a slight acceleration from the previous quarter (+14.2 percent), despite a sharp decline in sales to Chinese customers at its ...
Essilux brings some wearables production to Italy with R&D synergies and supply chain risks in mind
EssilorLuxottica will start producing some wearables at its Agordo plant in Veneto, Italy, by early 2027, the group and a coordination of three trade unions (Filctem CGIL, Femca CISL, Uiltec UIL) announced earlier this week. While most of the production of such products, including the AI and AR glasses developed ...
ZEISS Group launches cost-reduction program and job cuts after mixed H1 results
ZEISS Group revenue edged up by 1 percent year over year to €5,794 million in the first half of fiscal 2025/26, decelerating sharply from the double-digit growth reported in the previous fiscal year. Earnings before interest and taxes fell 3.7 percent to €955 million, corresponding to a slight improvement in ...
Krys adds Even Realities G2 to its growing smart eyewear stable
Krys Group, France’s top optical retailer, has become the first national chain to carry the Even Realities G2 display glasses. This will be its third proposition in smart eyewear, after the Meta models (Ray-Ban and Oakley) and its own private-label model.
Shareholders in Essilux owner Delfin reach settlement
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio and Rocco Basilico, two of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Dal Vecchio have reached a provisional settlement to end their legal disputes over a change in the ownership structure of Delfin, which controls EssilorLuxottica with a 32.4 percent stake, according to media reports. Essilux ...
CVI outlook tightens on APAC softness as CooperCompanies nears CooperSurgical sale
CooperCompanies reported an 8 percent year-on-year increase in CooperVision revenue for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, ended April 30. Contact lens sales rose 4 percent at constant exchange rates and organically, slightly accelerating from Q1 (+3 percent).
Spain’s optical market expands on pricing gains amid weak volume growth
The Spanish optical market grew by 4.0 percent to €2,551 million in 2025, according to the 2026 edition of the “Libro Blanco de la Visión” published by FEDAO, the Spanish federation of optical industry associations, and sponsored by Correos Express. This marks a slight acceleration from the 2.9 percent growth ...
GoodVision seeks NPO partners for pilot testing of new digital tools
GoodVision, the vision care NPO formerly known as EinDollar Brille, is unveiling two digital tools — the GoodVision App and VALY — to support its efforts to expand eye care in low-resource regions and is calling on other NPOs to join its pilot testing phase. Both tools will be presented ...