Recent supply chain and industry signals suggest Meta is preparing to expand into the smartwatch segment around 2026, while Apple is widely expected to enter the smart glasses market by 2027. What is unfolding is less a coincidence and more a strategic convergence: each company is targeting the other’s stronghold to extend its wearable ecosystem and product lineup.
SAG believes smart watch, TWS earbuds and smart glasses will remain as the top three largest sub-categories in wearable market in the next five years.
Today, Apple is the clear leader in smartwatches and TWS, while Meta has established a clear early lead in smart glasses (excluding AR/VR headsets).
SAG estimates Meta captured 80%+ of global smart glasses volume and value share in 2025, driven primarily by the success of its Ray-Ban Meta lineup. The company has effectively validated the audio-first, camera-assisted smart glasses category, pushing the segment to roughly $1 billion in annual revenue for Meta alone in 2025.
While Meta leads in smart glasses, Apple continues to dominate the broader wearable profit pool. SAG estimates Apple Watch shipments exceeded 40 million units in 2025, generating approximately $15 billion in revenue.
Meta is moving downstream into smartwatches to deepen daily wrist engagement and data capture.
Apple is moving upstream into smart glasses to extend ambient, AI-driven computing beyond the phone.
Both moves reflect the same strategic objective: own more continuous user interaction time across the body. From SAG’s perspective, this is the early stage of a broader wearable platform contest rather than isolated product launches.
As both companies step onto each other’s home ground, SAG expects competitive intensity in wearables to rise meaningfully in the following years.
