Meta is a losing battle with the supply chain over its flagship AI smart glasses, even as it fights to diversify its supply chain away from China. Chinese hardware maker Goertek has factored into these plans of Meta and now played out one more card.
This includes taking a controlling stake in optical device maker Shanghai OmniLight and providing funds to enable an acquisition of Plessey by a consortium of investors, the Financial Times (FT) reported Tuesday (Sept. 16).
The company is also producing Meta’s newest AI smart glasses, Hypernova, which the tech giant plans to announce this week, because it is the only trustworthy supplier of several key elements needed, The Information reported.
Goertek made the moves while Meta is attempting to diversify its supply chain, and as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has suggested to President Donald Trump that the United States needs to win the AI race with China, according to the report.
“We have a strong, diverse supply chain — which means we’re not reliant on any single manufacturer — and we continually evaluate and explore existing or new supply chain opportunities from around the world,” Meta said, according to the report.
Goertek did not respond to the comment in the FT report and did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’s request for commentary.
The news of Meta’s new Hypernova smart glasses was announced on Aug. 25, by the way, and that it will be unveiling them at its upcoming Connect conference scheduled to start Wednesday (Sept. 17).
The smart glasses will have a small display in the right lens and a round camera and microphone for making calls, the CNBC report said. The device will be linked with a wristband that allows users to control the glasses through hand gestures, CNBC said.
Other reports said the smart glasses would be priced at $800 instead of the previously rumoured target of $1,000, use a screen on the lens for apps and alerts and require another gadget like a mobile phone, though they allude to a future when glasses might replace phones.
Meta’s partner on its current Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses, EssilorLuxottica, said in July that sales of Ray-Ban Meta glasses had increased more than 200% in the first half of the year.
PYMNTS reported in February that a boom is happening among Ai smart glasses, as major tech companies and smaller rivals alike are placing big bets on this new connected wearable.
