"Meta's strategic shift is no longer speculative. In January 2026, the company cut approximately 1,000 positions from its Reality Labs division - roughly 10% of the unit responsible for Quest headsets and Horizon Worlds - and in March made additional cuts affecting several hundred more employees across the division. The reductions follow cumulative Reality Labs losses exceeding $70 billion since 2020, and they came with a direct commitment: capital and engineering talent are being redirected toward AI-powered glasses and away from immersive virtual reality."
"The pivot is already visible in the product line. EssilorLuxottica, which manufactures the Ray-Ban Meta glasses under its partnership with Meta, reported selling over 7 million units in 2025 alone - effectively tripling all prior years combined - and is scaling production capacity toward 10 million annual units by the end of 2026."
"The deal's termination, disclosed in Snap's May 6 earnings report, has redrawn the strategic map just days before Google I/O 2026 opens on May 19 with a confirmed preview of Android XR smart glasses - making this the most consequential week for wearable computing since Apple launched Vision Pro in February 2024."
"If you are deciding whether to invest in an AR device, build on one of these platforms, or simply want to understand which company is most likely to define the category, the next 18 months will answer that question. Here is what each major player is doing - and what it means for you."
Meta cut about 1,000 Reality Labs jobs in January 2026 and made further reductions in March, redirecting capital and engineering toward AI-powered glasses rather than immersive virtual reality. Meta’s shift is reflected in Ray-Ban Meta glasses sales, with EssilorLuxottica reporting over 7 million units sold in 2025 and plans to scale production to 10 million units annually by the end of 2026. Snap disclosed the termination of a $400 million AI search partnership with Perplexity in its May 6 earnings report, changing its strategic position just before Google I/O 2026. Google is set to preview Android XR smart glasses at Google I/O 2026, increasing competitive pressure across the category.
Read at Tech Times
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