Theses›Consumer devices›AR optics test and metrology

AR optics test and metrology

As display glasses scale, every waveguide needs an inline image-quality test (eyebox, MTF, uniformity, colour) and every waveguide wafer needs grating and flatness metrology.

  • Bear
  • Early
  • $1.2B by 2035

The callAbout $420M a year of AR/VR display test kit, and the display-metrology incumbents already sell production waveguide testers.

D1D2D3R1R2R3R4C1foragainst D1D2D3R1R2R3R4C1foragainst
Fig. 1The balance. Drivers and catalysts against restraints, each block sized by its weight; catalysts hang dashed because they have not happened yet, sized by their odds. It tips toward the restraints.
  1. D1Display glasses grow from about 3M units in 2026 to 12M (IDC) or 32M (TrendForce) by 2030, and every waveguide needs an eyebox test.
  2. D2Waveguide makers are adding lines in several countries (Schott Malaysia, Quanta, Crystal-Optech, Goertek's 12-inch fab), and each new line buys test.
  3. D3Eyebox scanning is slow by the literature's own account, so throughput is a real buying criterion.
  4. R1The market is small: about $420M a year in total and about $60M for production waveguide test.
  5. R2Incumbents already ship production testers (Trioptics takt under 1.5 s) and own the customer qualifications.
  6. R3Capacity runs ahead of demand: Lumus partners can make over 6M waveguides a year against 1-3M glasses, so test capex lags units.
  7. R4One buyer dominates: Meta is 69% of smart glasses, and the big waveguide makers build some metrology in-house.
  8. C1A second display-glasses platform (Apple display glasses or a Google/Samsung Android XR display model) ships at scale and pushes the market toward TrendForce's 32M units.2028-29
What would prove itdated tests, open and resolved
20272028today1watch 20272028today1watch
Fig. 2Each ring is a dated test: dashed while open, struck through when overdue, ticked or crossed once resolved.
  1. 1Display-glasses units against the two forecasts: IDC's 12M by 2030 or TrendForce's 32M.Dec 2027 · open
  • ·Any waveguide maker naming test throughput as its line limit, and Trioptics or Konica Minolta production wins.
Expressionslisted, private, technologies

1 more private company tracked, not shown

Technologies
What changedthe record, newest first
  • 23 Oct 2026Testing the waveguides in smart glasses is a real production step, but it is a few hundred million dollars a year and the display-metrology incumbents already sell the kit.