Summary
Global AI-glasses shipments increased 263% year on year in the first half of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. Display-less AI glasses accounted for 96% of the reported total.
Global shipments of AI glasses increased 263% year on year in the first half of 2026, according to a market insight published by Counterpoint Research on September 21, 2026. Display-less AI glasses accounted for 96% of the total shipments covered by the report.
Counterpoint describes the market acceleration as being driven by display-less devices, Meta’s dominance and growing adoption of augmented-reality and artificial-intelligence technologies.
Display-less glasses lead the reported market
Display-less AI glasses are wearable devices that provide computing or AI functions without projecting digital images into the wearer’s field of view. In general, this design is closer to a connected audio-and-camera wearable than to full augmented-reality glasses: information can be delivered through voice or audio, while cameras and microphones can support functions such as image recognition or voice interaction, depending on the product.
The 96% share reported by Counterpoint indicates that most of the market’s current shipment volume is concentrated in this simpler form factor rather than in glasses with built-in visual displays. That distinction matters because display-less glasses generally avoid some of the technical challenges associated with putting bright, power-hungry displays and optics into a lightweight frame.
A rapid rise from an unspecified base
A 263% year-on-year increase means that shipments in H1 2026 were more than three times the level recorded in H1 2025. The percentage describes the rate of growth, not the number of glasses shipped. Counterpoint’s published summary does not provide an absolute shipment figure in the supplied text, so the size of the installed user base cannot be calculated from the growth rate alone.
The report also identifies Meta’s market position as a factor in the current expansion. That is a market assessment from Counterpoint Research, rather than a specification or performance claim about a particular product. Its summary presents the category as an early wearable-computing market in which manufacturers are building demand around AI services before visual displays become widespread.
For consumers and the wider technology industry, the shipment mix suggests that voice-led and camera-assisted wearables are currently reaching the market more quickly than display-based augmented-reality glasses. Whether the category moves toward lighter display systems, more capable on-device AI or broader everyday use will depend on product design, software support and adoption beyond the period measured in the report.