Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has set ambitious goals for the company’s augmented reality (AR) glasses, predicting sales in the billions. This comes after a successful year for Meta’s smart glasses, including the Ray-Ban Meta, which Zuckerberg described as a “real hit” during the company’s Q4 2024 earnings call. He believes 2025 will be a pivotal year in determining whether Meta can achieve these ambitious targets. This push towards AR comes amidst ongoing development of new models, including Oakley-style glasses for athletes and a Ray-Ban Meta successor codenamed “Hypernova,” featuring a heads-up display.
Meta’s Reality Labs: From Metaverse to AR Glasses
While the “metaverse” hype has faded, Meta’s Reality Labs division, responsible for VR and AR technologies, is seeing significant growth. Leaked internal memos reveal that sales increased by 40% year over year in 2024, exceeding targets for both product sales and user acquisition. Despite this progress, Reality Labs still reported losses of nearly $5 billion in Q4 2024, with only $1.1 billion in sales. However, Zuckerberg sees a vast potential market in AR and AI-powered glasses, describing it as a “wide open field” during a recent all-hands meeting.
Guests including Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk attend the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Competition and Internal Controversies
Meta faces significant competition in the smart glasses market. CES 2025 showcased numerous smart glasses from various companies, and tech giants like Samsung and Apple are also developing their own AR offerings. Though Meta has a head start, the race is far from over. Internal controversies also pose challenges for Zuckerberg. His recent public stances against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, coupled with changes to fact-checking policies on Facebook and Instagram, have sparked employee concern. Leaked transcripts of internal meetings reveal employee unease about Zuckerberg’s growing relationship with former President Donald Trump.
Focusing on AI and Future Investments
Zuckerberg has emphasized the importance of AI for Meta’s future, pledging “billions of dollars” in AI infrastructure investments. This includes a $65 billion investment in a 2GW data center equipped with over 1.3 million Nvidia graphics processing units. This comes at a time when DeepSeek has released a comparable AI model without requiring such extensive data processing capabilities. During the all-hands meeting, Zuckerberg warned of impending layoffs targeting “low-performers,” describing the process as “ripping the band-aid off.” This announcement, coupled with the company’s attempts to identify and reprimand leakers of internal information, highlights growing tensions within Meta.
Conclusion: A Challenging Road Ahead
Zuckerberg’s vision of billions of AI glasses sold is ambitious, but the path to achieving it is fraught with challenges. While Meta’s Reality Labs division is showing growth, substantial losses persist. Competition from other tech giants and internal controversies surrounding Zuckerberg’s leadership create further hurdles. The coming years will be crucial in determining whether Meta can successfully navigate these obstacles and realize its AR ambitions.
