Qualcomm is partnering with Indian firms like Lenskart to make smart glasses nearly as affordable as regular eyewear.
Qualcomm Inc is collaborating with Indian companies to reduce the price of smart glasses to a level only slightly above traditional eyewear, aiming to expand a market still in its infancy.
Elaborating on the company's plans to enter this potentially high-growth segment, Savi Soin, president of Qualcomm India, said, "We already have a collaboration with Lenskart and are in talks with other partners, including mobile phone companies.
"We are working to bring audio smart glasses at a competitive price -- just a small premium over regular glasses, but with added value. We are also working on the next generation of technology."
Soin said the focus of these collaborations is to make smart glasses relevant for Indian consumers, enabling communication in local languages (via instant translation) or capturing video, for instance.
"We have seen interest from automotive companies, including two-wheeler makers, on how smart glasses could help drivers communicate. So we are exploring many use cases relevant to India," he added.
The Lenskart partnership with Qualcomm involves integrating Snapdragon extended reality chipsets into Lenskart's next-generation smart glasses.
This collaboration will bring advanced AI, virtual reality, spatial computing features and real-time translation capabilities to consumers.
Globally, the smart glasses market took off in 2022, but in India it remains small, albeit promising.
According to IDC research, smart glass shipments in India rose to 50,000 units in the second quarter of this calendar year, up from just 4,000 a year ago, driven by launches from Meta and Lenskart.
The average selling price stood at $134, reflecting the segment's premium positioning. Most glasses sold support audio communication only; video-enabled devices remain far pricier.
The market is expected to receive a further boost with the launch of Ray-Ban Meta eyeglasses, through a partnership with Titan Eyewear, which operates over 864 stores across the country.
These offerings, priced between Rs 29,999 and Rs 35,700, target premium customers and early adopters.
Counterpoint Research projects that the market will grow over 400 per cent in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Titan has been an early mover, launching its first smart glasses, Titan EyeX, in 2022, followed by Titan EyeX 2.0 in August 2023, at Rs 2,000.
Other players include OhO Sunshine, with 4K camera recording and real-time translation memory (Rs 24,999); Phonic from Lenskart (Rs 4,000); and Oakter.
Companies like Xiaomi have also entered the market with audio glasses and built-in voice assistants.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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