MILAN, Sept 17 (Askume) – EssilorLuxottica (ESLX.PA) said on Tuesday it had signed a 10-year deal with Meta Platforms (META.O) to continue developing smartglasses, expanding their partnership.
Francesco Milleri, CEO of Essilor Luxottica, said: “The incredible work we’re doing with Meta, while still in its early stages, is marking an important milestone in our journey to make eyewear the gateway to the connected world.”
The press release did not mention the possibility of Meta buying a stake in the eyewear maker. In July, the head of EssilorLuxottica said the tech giant had informed him about a potential investment in the company .
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the two companies had discussed Meta acquiring a 5% stake in the Franco-Italian group.
EssilorLuxottica and Meta have been working together since 2019 to create two generations of Ray-Ban branded smartglasses.
While the first smartglasses launch struggled to attract consumers, the latest version, launched in late 2023,More units were sold in a few months than the previous version had sold in two years .
Ray-Ban Meta’s smart glasses allow consumers to make calls, listen to music and take photos by pressing a button on the top of the right temple of the glasses. Multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities were also added for US and Canadian customers in May.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done with Essilor Luxottica so far and I’m excited about our long-term roadmap for the future. We have an opportunity to transform eyewear into the next major technology platform and popularize it in the fashion industry,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement.
