LAS VEGAS — Meta Platforms said Tuesday it is delaying the global rollout of Ray-Ban Display glasses as surging U.S. demand collides with tight supply. The company said it will prioritize U.S. orders and re-evaluate international availability, with product wait lists now running well into 2026, Jan. 6, 2026.
The Facebook parent had planned to start selling Ray-Ban Display glasses in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada early this year, but said inventory is “extremely limited” and demand has been higher than expected, according to a Reuters report. Meta did not provide a new timetable for the international launch.
The decision is a setback for would-be buyers outside the United States who had been tracking the expansion closely. The Verge reported that Meta is pausing its early-2026 expansion plans and focusing first on U.S. fulfillment while it reassesses international availability.
Ray-Ban Display glasses rollout hits a bottleneck
Meta and Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica have positioned Ray-Ban Display glasses as a step beyond audio-first smart eyewear: a small display in the right lens, paired with the Meta Neural Band wrist device for gesture control. Ray-Ban’s product description lists a full-color, 600-by-600-pixel in-lens display and a 12-megapixel camera, along with up to six hours of use on a single charge, according to Ray-Ban’s product page.
Meta has offered only a few hard numbers about how Ray-Ban Display glasses are selling. Reuters cited Francisco Jeronimo, a vice president for devices at IDC’s Europe, Middle East and Africa unit, saying Meta sold about 15,000 units in the first quarter and captured roughly 6% market share in the smart-glasses category. Reuters also reported that EssilorLuxottica said in October 2025 it would accelerate production capacity for the smart glasses business.
At CES, Meta is also adding features aimed at making Ray-Ban Display glasses more useful for the people who already have them. TechCrunch reported that the company previewed a teleprompter mode for reading prepared notes and an “EMG handwriting” feature that lets users write messages by tracing letters with a finger while wearing the wristband. Meta also said it is expanding pedestrian navigation to Denver, Las Vegas, Portland and Salt Lake City, building on its U.S.-only rollout of the feature.
The long road to display-enabled smart eyewear
Meta’s supply squeeze comes after years of launches in smart glasses. The company’s first attempt arrived in 2021, when Facebook introduced camera-and-audio eyewear made with Ray-Ban, as Reuters reported at the time.
In 2023, Meta announced a new generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with improved cameras and audio and hands-free “Hey Meta” controls, according to Meta’s product announcement. The company later raised the stakes with Ray-Ban Display glasses that add visual information in the lens, rather than relying solely on audio and a connected phone. The Guardian reported that Meta planned to sell the Display model in the U.S. from Sept. 30, 2025, before expanding to the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada in early 2026 — a schedule now pushed back by the supply crunch.
For now, Meta’s pause leaves international buyers waiting while U.S. customers face long queues for Ray-Ban Display glasses. The next test is whether Meta and EssilorLuxottica can ramp supply fast enough to restart the global rollout without turning a breakout gadget into a permanent waiting list.
