Xiaomi enters the scene, China's AI glasses breakthrough underway
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Xiaomi enters the scene, China's AI glasses breakthrough underway
Xiaomi's AI glasses are about to launch, sparking a market frenzy over an "old account."
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Following the Xiaomi SU7, Lei Jun's next era-defining hit—Xiaomi's AI glasses—is about to arrive.
In 2024, the AI glasses market was almost entirely dominated by Ray-Ban Meta. But with Chinese manufacturers collectively ramping up efforts and entering the space en masse, 2025 will mark a phase of concentrated product explosions in the AI glasses sector.
Among these Chinese players, "Xiaomi" stands out most prominently—whether considering its brand positioning, vast user base, mature market channels, or its experience in implementing AI + hardware solutions. Indeed, the launch of Xiaomi's AI glasses is poised to elevate China's AI glasses market to a new level.
Xiaomi AI Glasses Imminent: A Market Frenzy Sparked by an "Old Account"
The release of Xiaomi's AI glasses is drawing near, accompanied by continuous market speculation.
Although Wang Hua, General Manager of Xiaomi Group’s Public Relations Department, recently issued an urgent denial stating that “the official Xiaomi Glasses Weibo account was registered years ago and is not newly launched,” this response反而 left even greater room for imagination. From his highly formal wording, it's clear that Wang did not directly deny the possibility of a product launch—he merely emphasized the account wasn't newly created, implying related developments may still be underway.
In addition, rumors have widely circulated that Xiaomi's AI glasses have already passed MIIT network access certification (model number M2442G1). Wang Hua has not commented on this, which seems to quietly confirm everything.
In fact, as early as November 2024, industry insiders reported that Xiaomi was collaborating with GoerTek to develop a new generation of AI glasses, planned for release during the Mi Fan Festival in Q2 2025, with Lei Jun projecting annual sales of over 300,000 units.
Last year, Tuoluo learned from supply chain sources that Xiaomi's AI glasses may come in two versions: one equipped with a camera module, and a basic audio-only version (possibly an early test model), both targeting the mass market.
Additionally, there will be some innovative design elements aimed at enhancing battery life. This strategy aligns closely with Xiaomi’s established DNA of “extreme cost-performance” in consumer electronics, while also positioning the product as a direct competitor to Ray-Ban Meta in terms of capabilities.
Why Are AI Glasses Xiaomi's Next Growth Opportunity?
Xiaomi is entering the AI glasses arena to capture new market growth.
Founded in 2010 as an internet-based smartphone company, Xiaomi has grown rapidly. Its latest data shows its market capitalization has surpassed one trillion yuan, moving it from being the “youngest Fortune Global 500 company” into the ranks of the world’s top 100 enterprises—surpassing giants like Huawei, Panasonic, and LG.
Beneath Xiaomi’s continuous growth lies not only heavy R&D investment in technologies and ecosystems centered around smartphones but also its so-called “Xiaomi general store.” This “general store” encompasses a wide range of IoT and lifestyle consumer products, which play a significant role in Xiaomi’s revenue—evident from the financial results disclosed in Xiaomi Group’s Q3 2024 earnings report.
Xiaomi Group’s Q3 2024 financial report reveals that revenue from IoT and lifestyle products reached 26.1 billion yuan, up 26.3% year-on-year, with gross margin rising 3.5 percentage points to 20.8%. In contrast, smartphone revenue reached 47.5 billion yuan, but gross margin fell to 11.7%, down 4.9 percentage points year-on-year. Meanwhile, the newly launched smart electric vehicle business also stood out, generating 9.7 billion yuan in revenue—a 52.3% sequential increase.
Therefore, as the smartphone market reaches saturation and margins continue to decline, continuously expanding the “Xiaomi general store” ecosystem to boost revenue and profitability has become essential for sustained growth.
Within this “Xiaomi general store” portfolio, past consumer electronics strategies have largely revolved around smartphones and Xiaoai Smart Speakers, expanding outward ecologically. Given today’s growing consumer demand for smart wearables and the deep integration of AI technology into portable devices, AI glasses represent a natural strategic fit.
AI glasses align perfectly with Xiaomi’s strategic need for new business growth and its phone-centric scenario expansion. On one hand, as wearable devices closest to human senses, eyewear offer inherent advantages in first-person perspective data capture and voice interaction. Leveraging smartphone computing power and cloud-based AI, they can enable diverse AI applications such as real-time translation, image recognition, intelligent search, and personal assistant functions.
On the other hand, Ray-Ban Meta sold over one million units in 2024, validating market potential for “lightweight AI glasses.” Currently, China’s AI glasses market remains in its infancy, offering substantial room for growth. Research firm IDC forecasts that global AI glasses shipments will reach 12.8 million units in 2025, a 26% year-on-year increase. Among them, China’s market is expected to ship 2.8 million units in 2025—an impressive 107% year-on-year growth.
From 'AR Explorer Edition' to AI Glasses: Xiaomi Has Been Preparing for Years
In fact, like Meta, Xiaomi has long been investing in AR technology as part of the next-generation computing platform (excluding products under the Mi Ecosystem chain). As early as 2021, Xiaomi unveiled an AR glasses concept product based on Micro-LED and diffractive waveguide technology. In 2023, Xiaomi officially announced the Xiaomi Wireless AR Glasses Explorer Edition, built on Micro-OLED and freeform optics.
In terms of technical maturity, Xiaomi’s earlier AR glasses were already highly feasible, comparable to similar offerings from numerous startups in the market. However, Xiaomi chose not to rush into commercialization—because for large companies, entering a market before a breakout product emerges carries high opportunity costs.
It wasn’t until the rise of AIGC and the success of Ray-Ban Meta that Xiaomi became more confident in this category. Although the AI glasses launching in 2025 are essentially a streamlined version of previous AR models, powered by generative AI, they can already deliver many practical use cases through voice and camera sensors. More importantly, Xiaomi sees AI glasses as a fully viable, commercially ready consumer product.
For Xiaomi, AI glasses serve a similar purpose as Meta’s smart glasses—acting as a transitional product toward future AR glasses. From a market trend perspective, there is surging demand in consumer electronics for lightweight, portable, and efficient AI-powered devices. AI glasses, with their initial exploration in voice interaction and first-person vision, perfectly match this trajectory, laying the groundwork in user adoption and technological application for more advanced AR glasses with superior functionality and experience.
Xiaomi monocular AR glasses
Moreover, it's worth noting that compared to typical startups, smartphone makers like Xiaomi genuinely possess certain technical advantages in developing AI glasses. As highlighted in last year’s article “AI Glasses | Easy Supply Chain Access, Hard-to-Find High-Quality Products”, Tuoluo emphasized that for Ray-Ban Meta-style AI glasses, “audio” and “imaging” are the two core and most challenging components.
A seemingly simple feature like “voice interaction” requires integration of multiple external microphones, noise-canceling audio capture, and complex audio algorithms with hardware. “Image capture,” meanwhile, directly affects a product’s reputation and sales volume—and must therefore be taken seriously. Without manual focus like smartphones, AI glasses must achieve autofocus, automatic color adjustment, and optimized sensitivity settings, which poses considerable challenges for startups. Additionally, chip selection and cost trade-offs are crucial.
However, noise reduction algorithms, audio pickup algorithms, imaging algorithms, and AI voice interaction systems are areas where smartphone giants like Xiaomi have already accumulated extensive technical expertise through TWS earbuds, smart speakers, and smartphones. Compared to startups, they require far less debugging and catch-up effort. At the software ecosystem level, they also enjoy system-level permissions and seamless integration with the broader smartphone ecosystem—giving them a strong technical edge. All this heightens anticipation for how Xiaomi’s AI glasses will differentiate themselves technically.
Xiaomi's AI Glasses: The Catalyst for Breaking Through China's AI Eyewear Market?
In 2025, the AI glasses space is crowded with giants: Meta plans to launch six AI wearable devices this year, while Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, Thunderbird Innovation, Starry/Merger & Zeekr, Baidu, Rokid, and others are all watching closely. Amid this global “hundred-glasses race,” Xiaomi’s entry could trigger a much-needed “catfish effect” in the Chinese market.
Currently, AI glasses sales in China lag significantly behind overseas markets, yet industry enthusiasm is high. From a marketing standpoint, the domestic market lacks a viral, breakout product equivalent to Ray-Ban Meta—one that could raise consumer awareness and stimulate purchasing intent for AI glasses.
Xiaomi’s brand strength cannot be underestimated. Over the years, Xiaomi has built legendary status among consumers through high-value products and a rich ecosystem, creating fertile ground for promoting its AI glasses thanks to its massive user base.
Against this backdrop, Xiaomi’s entry into AI glasses will undoubtedly expand the overall market size of China’s AI eyewear industry, opening up a significant new growth segment.
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