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Comment by modeless | Hacker News Reader

The Meta Ray-Bans have been extremely successful for a completely new consumer device form factor. But they don't have a screen. Meta is releasing new glasses with a screen and this is a look into the display technology they are using. It is "newsworthy" for tech people who are interested in the development of new technology in displays and optics, and new computing devices more generally.

This is the kind of content HN was made for, much more so than the Israel/Gaza or Bertrand Russell stories I see on the front page right now for example.

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> The Meta Ray-Bans have been extremely successful for a completely new consumer device form factor.

Do you have any sources on them being a successful product by any measurable standard? I honestly wasn't aware that they were even being sold, and I'm sure I don't know anyone that owns a pair. I'm not exactly their target market, but I think at least some in my social circle are.

My friend in England has a pair. They’re selling extremely well

My mate Paul says they're not.

over 2mil sold since oct 2023.

.... thats nothing. Id hardly call that a success when you consider Meta's resources for marketing.

Google is also finding that blasting YT with ads of Google Pixel does not work very well.

To be honest the best adverstisement for the Google Pixel series is GrapheneOS :-).

2 million hardware devices sold is not nothing, that is a pretty significant amount of hardware to ship.

When you have a 1+ billion of users to market to, practically for free, it is actually a tiny number.

Thanks for posting, your comment was informative and didn't contain hate and boring tropes.

2 million sold in three years is hardly ‘extremely successful’.

It is "for a completely new consumer device form factor"

New? “wearable camera with headphones” is not exactly groundbreaking.

Even a new model with a screen would only be semi-new, other AR glasses have existed for over a decade - with Apple releasing a consumer-focused product last year.

Vision Pro is the same form factor as Meta's glasses in the same sense that a semi truck is the same form factor as a moped.

That's why I gave other examples :)

Compare it to devices with similar form factors or use cases sold by competitors:

- Snapchat - has been trying for a decade and has sold ~220K Spectacles.

- Amazon Echo Frames - Reuters estimated less than 10,000 units sold.

- Humane AI Pin - the less said about it the better.

- Google Glass - neat but way ahead of its time, and barely made it to consumers before being quickly discontinued.

- Hololens/Magic Leap - both duds.

- Lengthy list of startups with smart glasses and other wearables that have gained no traction.

Meta glasses are noteworthy because there's finally a company making an AR wearable catch on among a mainstream audience.

Or they are all failures, including Meta’s…?

Well let's just agree to call it "the most successful smart glasses ever by a long way".

The original iPhone sold 1.3 million units in its first year. I suppose you consider that a massive failure as well?

It's not 2007 anymore. You can't judge a product today with the standards of almost 20 years ago. Additionally, Wikipedia says it sold 6.1 million units within 12.5 months.

The iPhone was not a completely new consumer device form factor. There was a huge existing market for cellular phones, even smartphones with touchscreens. There is no equivalent pre-existing market for smart glasses today.

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