Meta Smart Ray-Ban Glasses Big Winner? Goldman Finds App Downloads Hit 200% YoY

The wearable technology market race ended in massive disappointment for Apple in 2024, as Tim Cook's $3,500 Vision Pro headset struggled to gain traction. Meanwhile, interest in Meta's affordable smart Ray-Bans surged. Affordability has been a key factor driving consumers toward Meta's glasses.

"I tried on the Ray-Ban Meta glasses yesterday om Oxford's Westgate, and was broadly impressed and could see myself using them for dogwalking podcasts, morning conference calls, or skiing, or biking, not convinced by how much I will use the photos or AI functionality to find nearest Pret or Starbucks," Goldman's Jack McFerran wrote in a note. 

Using app download data from Sensor Tower, McFerran found downloads of the core 'Meta View' companion app happened at over 200% YoY (in October).

On Meta's website, the smart Ray-Ban glasses are priced between $300 and $379—a stark difference from Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro. While the Ray-Ban glasses are essentially just classic Wayfarer frames with a camera and speakers overlaid with an LLM, and lack actual AR/VR capabilities, consumers seem willing to go this route in favor of affordability.

Meta is winning the wearable tech game when compared with Apple.

And we know why...

Before putting on these glasses, remember that Meta's Mark Zuckerberg cannot be trusted, even as he appears to be cozying up to Trump.