Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) appears well-insulated from competition from AI-powered smart glasses over the next few years, according to Oppenheimer analysts, who noted that significant design hurdles remain unresolved.
After testing Meta’s latest Ray-Ban Display glasses in a New York City demonstration, the firm highlighted “the key challenges that have prevented smart glasses from mass consumer adoption since Google Glass (2013).”
Oppenheimer specifically pointed out that the single-eye display “fails to tackle well-known issues that cause eye strain and blurry vision.”
The analysts added that although the Ray-Ban Display introduces innovative designs, it is “too early to view [it] as an everyday wearable such as Apple Watch, let alone a potential challenger to smartphones.”
Concluding their assessment, Oppenheimer wrote: “We came away from the demo more confident that Apple’s hardware ecosystem is safe from new AI-enabled smart glasses for the next 2-3 years. It also gives Apple more runway to fine-tune its own smart glasses products.”
The report also cited several obstacles to widespread adoption, including conflicts with human vision that “result in significant eye strain and blur after staring at the display for more than seconds.”
Oppenheimer noted that the Ray-Ban Display is better suited for quick glances rather than “delivering denser information such as longer text or video.”
The firm cautioned against “feature creep,” as Meta AI functions push the glasses to provide more information than human vision can comfortably handle.
While the demonstration showed some early consumer enthusiasm, with stock selling out on launch day at the visited store, Oppenheimer’s conclusion was clear: “We came away convinced that Ray-Ban Display will remain a niche product.”
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