AR Glasses Surge 136% as VR Demand Cools — Counterpoint’s Q1 2026 Market Breakdown

New market research is painting a clear picture of where momentum is building in the wearable display space — and it’s not VR headsets. According to Counterpoint Research’s latest XR 360 tracking, global shipments of intelligent eyewear (covering VR, AR, and smart glasses combined) jumped 83% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. But that headline number hides a much more interesting split: AR glasses shipments surged 136%, and display-less smart glasses grew an even bigger 210%, while VR shipments actually fell 17% over the same period.

The VR slowdown isn’t really a mystery. Counterpoint points to weak consumer demand, an aging product lineup across the category, and a noticeable slowdown in new product launches, with leading suppliers also taking a more cautious approach to investment in the space.

On the AR side, there’s a meaningful shift happening in the underlying display technology too. Birdbath and flat-prism optics — the more established, cheaper-to-produce design — still dominate the AR glasses market, but their share dropped from 82% to 58% year-on-year. Meanwhile, waveguide-based AR glasses, generally seen as the more advanced (and more expensive) approach, more than doubled their share, climbing from 18% to 42%.

In terms of who’s actually winning, Counterpoint named RayNeo, VITURE, and XREAL as the three companies defining the AR glasses market this quarter. RayNeo held onto the top spot with a 41% share, helped by a broad and diversified product lineup. VITURE was singled out as the standout performer, growing 281% year-on-year to capture 34% of the market — and topping AR glasses shipments outside China entirely, on the back of aggressive international expansion. XREAL’s growth slowed by comparison, though Counterpoint remained positive on its longer-term position, particularly given its status as the first consumer AR glasses maker to file for an IPO.

The waveguide segment specifically is becoming more crowded too, as more manufacturers combine AI features with see-through displays for more natural interaction with AI assistants. Rokid led that charge globally with its Rokid Glasses, while Meta captured a 38% share — though its growth was held back by limited production yields for the Ray-Ban Meta Display and the product’s restricted US availability. Even Realities and Alibaba rounded out the list of notable challengers, with Alibaba expected to keep building momentum in China as it consolidates its smart glasses lineup under its Qwen brand.

In the display-less smart glasses category, Meta’s dominance only grew stronger, with its global market share climbing from 82% to nearly 84% — even as rising component costs put pressure on the wider consumer electronics industry.

Taken together, the numbers suggest the AR and smart glasses category is shifting from early hype into something with real, measurable commercial traction — while VR, at least for now, looks stuck in a holding pattern.