Samsung, LG race to develop AR displays as market grows

The global augmented reality (AR) glasses market is moving beyond its infancy into a growth phase, led by Meta’s AR eyewear, as devices capable of displaying information directly in users’ field of vision emerge as a potential next-generation mobile platform.

According to market research firm TrendForce on Sunday, global AR glasses shipments are projected to more than double from 620,000 units in 2025 to 1.31 million in 2026.

Meta is expected to account for approximately 20 percent of global shipments, driven by the popularity of its Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. Four other brands ? China’s XREAL, Rokid and RayNeo, and Germany’s Even Realities ? are projected to hold a combined 53.2 percent share.

Despite the market’s expansion, South Korean display manufacturers have yet to secure a place in Meta’s key supply chain.

Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses use liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology supplied by U.S.-based OmniVision. LCoS creates images by reflecting light from an external source off a liquid crystal layer.

Meta’s Orion AR prototype uses LED on silicon (LEDoS) technology from China’s JBD, while some Xreal products incorporate micro organic light-emitting diode (micro-OLED) displays supplied by Japan’s Sony.

Chinese and Japanese manufacturers also dominate the OLED on silicon (OLEDoS) market, where South Korean companies are developing competing technologies.

According to market research firm Omdia, Chinese and Japanese companies are expected to account for more than 90 percent of the OLEDoS market this year.

South Korean display makers are accelerating the development of next-generation panels to narrow the gap.

Samsung Display is developing red, green and blue (RGB) OLEDoS technology for AR glasses.

At the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in the United States earlier this year, the company demonstrated smart glasses equipped with a prototype RGB OLEDoS display, showcasing real-time translation and interpretation, navigation and weather information.

The RGB approach produces colors without requiring color filters, offering advantages in light efficiency and color reproduction.

LG Display is also advancing its OLEDoS technology.

The company unveiled a 0.42-inch OLEDoS display for AR glasses in 2023. In 2024, it achieved brightness of 10,000 nits in an OLEDoS display for virtual reality (VR) applications by incorporating micro lens array (MLA) technology.

LG Display continues to refine its high-brightness OLEDoS technology for AR and VR devices as the share of OLEDoS and LEDoS panels in the AR glasses display market is expected to grow.