The artificial intelligence (AI) glasses market recorded its strongest half-year on record, with global shipments reaching 4.2 million units in the first half of this year, up 127% from a year earlier, according to Omdia. Meta drove much of the expansion, shipping 3.4 million units for an 81.3% share. Its Ray-Ban Meta 2nd Gen combines a 12-megapixel camera, speakers and microphones with photo and video capture, music, calls and real-time translation through Meta AI; U.S. pricing starts at $379, or about ₩510,000. Omdia senior research analyst Zhu Chiran attributed the growth to Meta's continued expansion and the entry of Chinese competitors, saying hands-free capture, open-ear audio and AI assistants have demonstrated a clear consumer use case. Vendors are taking different approaches to the category. Meta has introduced display-equipped models, while Even Realities' Even G2 removes cameras and speakers. Xiaomi offers a roughly 40-gram design with camera, audio and translation functions; Rokid sells glasses with lens-based translation and navigation; and Alibaba has entered with products powered by its Qwen AI model. Counterpoint Research recorded an even faster 263% year-over-year increase in global shipments. Screenless glasses, which rely on speakers and microphones rather than augmented-reality displays, made up the vast majority and grew 258% year over year and 22% from the previous half-year. AR/AI display glasses shipments rose 449% from a low base, with Rokid holding 41% and Meta 37%; China represented 45% of that segment's global shipments. China's overall AI glasses shipments rose 306% year over year, but Alibaba, INMO and Xiaomi together held only 46.1%, showing that competition remains fragmented. Privacy risks from concealed cameras and rising component costs could constrain growth, although the prevailing view is that neither issue will halt the market's expansion. Camera-free audio glasses and Meta's reported consideration of microphone- and AI-focused glasses point to further experimentation, while prices ranging from about ₩400,000, or $300, to ₩1 million, or $740, leave camera, display and audio combinations as key market variables.