“Hello, welcome to Shenzhen!” As soon as the voice finishes, an AI glasses instantly outputs a Russian female voice translation — audible only to the wearing Russian merchant, who nods in recognition.
At 6:30 p.m. on the second floor of Saige Economic Building in Huaqiangbei, crowds of foreign merchants stop by the storefront of Dejiazhou Electronics. Their eyes are fixed on the full display wall of AI glasses.
After experiencing and inquiring about the products, the Russian merchant marked a business card and noted: “We will come again tomorrow.”
Zhong Xianguang, General Manager of Dejiazhou Electronics, has long been accustomed to such overseas customer consultations. On busy weekends, each of the store’s two salespeople receives 40 to 50 potential buyers every day. “The first thing we do every morning is check the power of all display samples.”
Undoubtedly, AI glasses have become the new breakout star and top trending product in Huaqiangbei.
AI Empowerment Unlocks New Product Possibilities
Before the 2026 Spring Festival, Huaqiangbei released its first “Eight AI Innovations” list, igniting a boom in tech consumer goods. Among them, AI glasses quickly emerged as the most popular category.
Market data reflects the explosive growth: In Q1 2026, the sales volume of AI glasses in Huaqiangbei rose 70% year-on-year. According to the 2026 H1 Global Sales Heat Map of AI Hardware released by Huaqiangbei, AI glasses, together with AI robots and AI drones, rank among the top three hottest AI hardware products worldwide.
Meanwhile, China’s new national trade-in subsidies have officially covered AI glasses, and the industry widely regards 2026 as the first year of mass popularization for consumer-grade AI glasses.
Traditional Bluetooth glasses only support music playback and calls, lacking true intelligent capabilities. As local merchants put it, artificial intelligence has completely unlocked the imaginative potential of wearable glasses.
In 2023, Meta and Ray-Ban launched the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which became a global phenomenal product. Boosted by the rise of generative AI, the product sold 2 million units worldwide in 2024 alone, verifying huge market demand.
The overseas success triggered a fierce “hundred-brand competition” in China. Enterprises of all scales flooded the track, covering entry-level audio glasses priced at hundreds of yuan to high-end AR glasses costing thousands.
Local Enterprises Seize Early Industry Opportunities
Dejiazhou Electronics, rooted in Huaqiangbei for 11 years, originally focused on automotive electronics. It began testing AI smart glasses in the second half of 2024. After DeepSeek sparked nationwide AI enthusiasm in early 2025, the company fully shifted its production focus to practical consumer AI hardware.
Dimashi Technology made an earlier strategic transformation. In January 2024, its executives attended the CES exhibition in the United States and captured the clear trend of AI leading global technology innovation. The company upgraded traditional Bluetooth glasses with smart chips and large model algorithms, officially entering the AI glasses track.
New startups also seized the opportunity. In 2024, Zhang Chi, co-founder of Shenzhen Yijing Shijie Technology, officially launched his AI glasses business and opened a physical store in Manha Commercial Plaza to tap into the booming market.
Why AI Glasses Lead the Wearable Track
Liu Huanming, Executive Chairman of the World AI Glasses Alliance (WAEA), pointed out that glasses are the best carrier for AI to connect the virtual world with the physical world.
Equipped with built-in cameras and microphones, modern AI glasses integrate first-person shooting, voice interaction, real-time multi-language translation, intelligent object recognition, and navigation reminders. They free users’ hands while delivering lightweight, zero-burden wearing experience, evolving into visualized personal AI assistants.
The perfect combination of technological innovation and complete industrial capabilities has pushed Huaqiangbei to the forefront of the global AI hardware boom.
Huaqiangbei’s Core Advantages: Speed, Cost and Complete Industrial Chain
Unlike other tech products, AI glasses require long-duration wearing, making comfort, weight control and AI response speed core competitive advantages — all of which rely heavily on real-world testing and iteration, a unique strength of Huaqiangbei’s physical market ecosystem.
Optimized visa-free policies have driven overseas passenger flow. Since 2025, Huaqiangbei has welcomed more than 7,000 foreign visitors daily, bringing direct global market feedback and abundant international orders.
According to Zhong Xianguang, store customer traffic has increased 3–4 times compared with previous years. Most overseas buyers start with sample orders and small-batch trials to verify market adaptability before placing large-scale mass production orders.
Huaqiangbei local authorities also actively support enterprises to explore global markets, organizing groups to attend domestic and overseas AI and consumer electronics exhibitions, helping brands accurately capture international market demands.
With outstanding cost performance, Huaqiangbei AI glasses are far more affordable than imported products priced at over a thousand yuan. Local merchants reveal that 70%–80% of their products are exported to Europe, America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and other global regions.
The core of Huaqiangbei’s price advantage lies in its complete and efficient industrial chain. Gathering over 1 million electronic components, 115,000 market entities and 35 professional markets, it is deeply connected with the Pearl River Delta manufacturing base, forming a full-ecosystem layout from R&D and design to global sales.
Adhering to the philosophy of “small innovations and weekly iterations”, local enterprises continuously optimize lightweight design and battery life. New sports models are equipped with anti-shake algorithms, achieving rapid product upgrading.
Supported by more than 210 logistics outlets delivering over 3 million parcels daily, Huaqiangbei realizes the efficient industrial rhythm of design in the morning, sampling in the afternoon, mass production the next day, and global shipment within one week.
Traditional eyewear manufacturers have also settled in Huaqiangbei, providing one-stop services such as optometry and customized myopia lenses, covering full-scenario demands for children, the elderly and sports users. Currently, the Huaqiangbei AI glasses cluster includes over 200 core enterprises and more than 500 merchants, covering chip modules, structural design, software development, finished product manufacturing, brand operation and cross-border trade.
From OEM Manufacturing to Independent Global Branding
Local enterprises are transforming from low-margin OEM/ODM processing to independent brand operation. By leveraging cross-border e-commerce and overseas social media, they directly reach end consumers.
Cooperating with overseas influencers on mainstream social platforms has become a core promotion channel for local AI glasses brands. Industry veteran Rong Guanghong noted that interest-based e-commerce represented by TikTok Shop provides crucial breakthrough opportunities for emerging Chinese brands, unlike traditional search-based e-commerce that relies on passive user searches.
Independent brands can flexibly adjust product strategies based on market feedback, reinvest profits into R&D, form a positive innovation cycle, and build genuine international competitiveness — marking a vital shift from price competition to value competition.
Jiang Xiaolin, Sales Manager of Dimashi Technology, emphasized that brand building is rooted in strict quality control. Solid material inspection, production management and after-sales service are essential to upgrade Huaqiangbei’s overall industrial reputation.
Industry Standardization and Future Industrial Upgrading
The World AI Glasses Alliance (WAEA), based in Futian, Shenzhen, is leading standardized industry development. Liu Huanming stated that the AI glasses industry is experiencing rapid growth but lacks unified technical specifications. WAEA plans to release the world’s first universal standard for core AI glass technologies within 2026, seizing global discourse power for the emerging industry.
Additionally, WAEA will launch the world’s first full-industry-chain public service platform for AI glasses in Huaqiangbei, including product testing centers, exhibition centers and international purchaser service centers.
The booming “AI + hardware” track represented by AI glasses brings not only sales growth but also profound industrial upgrading opportunities for Huaqiangbei. In 2026, Futian District launched a high-level development plan for new-quality industries. The Huaqiangbei OPC Innovation Community has introduced over 500 innovation and entrepreneurship projects, focusing precisely on empowering the AI hardware industry.
As industry insiders said, the AI glasses sector is still in its early stage of rapid development. Following technological trends and continuous iterative innovation will remain the core driving force for the long-term growth of Huaqiangbei’s AI hardware industry.
