BUSINESS EssilorLuxottica and Meta Ink Long-Term Partnership for Smart Eyewear By Staff Tuesday, September 17, 2024 9:30 AM PARIS—EssilorLuxottica (Reuters: ESLX.PA) announced early this morning that it has entered into a new long-term agreement that extends it partnership with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), under which the parties will collaborate into the next decade to develop multi-generational smart eyewear products. The two companies have been collaborating since 2019, resulting in two generations of Ray-Ban branded smart glasses that have redefined the potential for consumer wearables. The line of Ray-Ban Meta glasses has garnered widespread adoption in that time, which the company attributes to the balance struck between form and function, combining EssilorLuxottica's industry knowledge and global network of retail and wholesale locations together with Meta’s advancements in technology. According to the company, the glasses are in high demand in the markets in which they’re available, including the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia and many European countries including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. “Over the past six decades, EssilorLuxottica has led the transformation and modernization of the eyewear and eyecare industry, positioning among the world’s leading innovators. We invest hundreds of millions every year in R&D to create products that improve quality of life for billions of people, and impact how they see the world and each other,” said Francesco Milleri, chairman and CEO of EssilorLuxottica. “The incredible work we’ve done with Meta, still in its early stages, has already proven to be an important milestone in our journey to making glasses the gateway to the connected world. I would like to thank the EssilorLuxottica team and our chief wearables officer Rocco Basilico together with the Meta team for the great job done. We look forward to continuing to chart the future of the category together.” “I'm proud of the work we've done with EssilorLuxottica so far, and I'm excited about our long term roadmap ahead. We have the opportunity to turn glasses into the next major technology platform, and make it fashionable in the process," said Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta. Francesco Milleri. The latest generation of Ray-Ban Meta glasses, introduced by EssilorLuxottica and Meta in the Fall of 2023, have advanced technology built into Ray-Ban frames. The hands-free connectivity gives consumers the ability to make phone calls, capture and share photos and videos, listen to music, and livestream content. The recent integration of Meta AI in the U.S. and Canada lets users get things done and more easily connect, the company said. In July of this year, while announcing EssilorLuxottica’s 2024 first-half financial results, Milleri had called out the company's relationship with the multimedia tech giant and owner of Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms, stating “One of the key engines of such a revolution is our long-term partnership with Meta, making our new proposition of a new generation of eyewear, more and more powerful.”