Omdia forecasts a pivotal shift in the near-eye display market, with AR display shipments set to overtake VR by 2030 as manufacturers focus on lighter, AI-enhanced smartglasses, transforming design and market structure.
Omdia expects global augmented reality display shipments to reach 21 million units by 2030, overtaking virtual reality display shipments at 19 million units, in a forecast that points to a clear rebalancing within the near-eye display market. The research firm said the shift reflects a wider move across the microdisplay industry towards lighter smartglasses, as manufacturers increasingly try to combine artificial intelligence features with wearability.
The market remains constrained by a basic engineering trade-off. Omdia said makers of AI and AR glasses are still trying to balance performance, weight and battery life, but improving one of those factors often weakens another. That tension has encouraged some firms to rethink whether a display is needed at all. Products such as Ray-Ban Meta illustrate a different approach: removing the display module and focusing on AI processing plus audio and camera functions instead.
According to Omdia, the change is not just about product design but about market structure. VR displays are forecast to account for 72 per cent of the near-eye display market in 2026, falling to 43 per cent by 2032, while AR displays rise from 28 per cent to 57 per cent over the same period. Jay Shao, principal analyst in Omdia’s Displays practice, said the move towards lighter devices is reshaping smartglasses design and that manufacturers are reconsidering the role of displays because of their effect on power use and device weight.
Omdia also sees a different path for virtual reality hardware, where compactness and comfort are becoming more important than sheer display performance. Shao said lightweight silicon-based OLED technology is likely to gain an advantage in VR as headset makers aim for smaller, more comfortable devices. The broader message from the forecast is that the next phase of smartglasses development will be shaped less by display capability alone and more by how well manufacturers can deliver AI functions without adding bulk or shortening battery life.
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