Meta is hitting pause on the global rollout of its Ray‑Ban Display smart glasses, keeping the AR-powered eyewear in the United States for now. The move comes as the device struggles to meet unexpectedly strong demand in the country, with waitlists stretching deep into 2026. The glasses, developed in collaboration with EssilorLuxottica, combine classic Ray‑Ban design with cutting-edge AR features, including a heads-up display, integrated camera, audio capabilities, and AI-powered interactions.
They were originally set to expand to markets including the UK, France, Italy, and Canada in early 2026. But now, the decision highlights the challenges Meta faces in balancing ambitious hardware releases with production and supply constraints.
“Meta Ray-Ban Display is a first-of-its-kind product with extremely limited inventory. And because of the unprecedented demand and limited inventory, we’ve decided to pause our planned international expansion to the UK, France, Italy, and Canada,” the social media behemoth said.
It is also important to note that the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm has not announced a new timeline for the glasses’ global availability. Priced at around $799 in the United States, the glasses come bundled with the Meta Neural Band, a wearable accessory designed to improve hands-free interaction and expand the device’s functionality. The combination of hardware and software positions the Ray‑Ban Display as one of the most refined consumer AR wearables currently on the market, aiming to bridge the gap between tech innovation and everyday usability.
Meta has continued to roll out software updates that add functionality for US users, including a teleprompter mode for easier content creation and improved pedestrian navigation in select cities.
However, despite strong consumer interest, Meta’s Ray-Ban Display and earlier Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are not free from technical, regulatory, and broader adoption challenges. For example, critics and privacy advocates have consistently raised concerns about secret recording and limited transparency for bystanders, triggering scrutiny under European data protection frameworks like the GDPR and the EU’s AI Act. Previous versions of Meta’s smart glasses also saw mixed feedback, as early models sold hundreds of thousands of units but were used regularly by only a small portion of buyers.
Also, Meta is not alone in betting on smart glasses as the next major computing platform. A growing field of competitors is racing to define the category, ranging from consumer-focused players like Snap and Google to hardware giants like Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi, all of which are actively exploring AI-driven eyewear and mixed-reality devices. Meanwhile, the global AR and VR smart glasses market, which was valued at about $45.6 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to more than $120 billion by 2033.
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