German optical market returns to near-stagnation
The German optical market returned to near stagnation in 2025 after a temporary improvement in the previous year, according to the most recent data from the Zentralverband der Augenoptiker und Optometristen (ZVA), the country’s association of opticians and optometrists.
Intermestic Q1 boosted by Megane Super consolidation, margins contract as expected
Intermestic, the parent company of Japanese retailer Zoff, reported last week its first quarterly results including the integration of Megane Super, the multi-brand optical retailer it acquired in September last year. As expected, the new perimeter drove a strong topline increase but weighed on profitability.
Korean startup raises $18m for alternative AR display optics
LetinAR, a South Korea-based smart eyewear startup, has raised $18.5 million in a new funding round led by Korea Development Bank, a state-owned development bank, according to reports from TechCrunch and other tech news outlets. Lotte Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of South Korea’s conglomerate Lotte Group, also participated ...
Lenskart to double down on AI after strong performance in FY2026
Lenskart ended its first fiscal year as a public company with Q4 revenue from operations up 40.6 percent year on year to 25,157 million Indian rupees (€224.1 million), accelerating from the previous quarter (+37.4 percent), both in India and abroad. For the full year (ended March 31), total revenue was ...
Google offers a first glimpse of 'intelligent eyewear,' leaving plenty of questions unanswered
Google and Samsung revealed only a little about their upcoming smart glasses, or rather “intelligent eyewear” per their own terminology, at yesterday’s Google I/O keynote presentation in Mountain View, California, as the focus was on agentic AI and Gemini upgrades across Google’s platforms.
France unclear on, wary of smart glasses, survey shows
At least in France, smart glasses are misunderstood, feared and associated with a single model.
Materialise transfers eyewear unit to management
Materialise has announced that it has agreed to transfer its eyewear business to the unit’s management team, as disclosed last week during its Q1 2026 financial results. The division will continue to operate as a stand‑alone entity, with Patrick Swinnen, currently Business Line Director, at the helm.
National Vision sees ‘flat to modest’ Q2 growth as maintains full-year outlook
National Vision said it expects to see “flat to modest” growth in the second quarter of its fiscal year amid temporary bumps associated with the launch of a new website for its America’s Best banner. The company has maintained its full-year sales and earnings guidance as comparable sales growth is ...
Menicon sees dailies capacity gains set to accelerate sales and lift margins
Menicon’s Vision Care unit annual revenue rose 3.7 percent year on year to ¥125.6 billion (€680m) in the fiscal year ended, following a slight acceleration in Q4. At constant exchange rates, sales were up 2.9 percent.
Mitsui Chemicals’ Life & Healthcare unit holds steady as group revenue plunges in FY2025/26
Mitsui Chemicals has reported a 2.9 percent year‑on‑year increase in revenue to 259 billion Japanese yen (€1.4bn) for its Life & Healthcare Solutions division in fiscal 2025/2026. The full‑year topline reflects an acceleration in the fourth quarter, as nine‑month sales were up 1.3 percent, though the result falls short of ...
Inspecs wraps 2025 with stable sales amid takeover shift
Inspecs Group’s full-year revenue edged down 0.8 percent year on year to £191.7 million (€221m) in 2025, flat at constant currencies. Figures for both years exclude Norville, the heavily loss-making lens unit closed in H2 2024. Volumes rose slightly to 11.5 million frames from 11.4 million in 2024. CEO Richard ...
EssilorLuxottica integrates vision care and medtech at ARVO
EssilorLuxottica said it presented for the first time a “fully integrated vision care and med-tech ecosystem” at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Denver, US, last week. “This integrated model brings together myopia management and vision science, advanced diagnostics, AI-driven analytics and ...
ZEISS Vision Care presents new myopia management lens clinical studies
ZEISS Vision Care presented results from three clinical studies on its myopia management lenses at the recent Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting in Denver, US.The studies included interim 6-month results for ZEISS MyoActive and ZEISS MyoEase, the group’s newest lenses in the category as ...
Prices and toric dailies drive the European CL market amid concerns over wearer base contraction
The market for contact lenses and care solutions across a geographic area covering 25 European countries, as well as seven additional markets (South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Egypt), grew by 6.0 percent year over year to €2,485 million in 2025, according to the ...
Safilo sustains margin expansion amid weak topline in Q1, confirms acquisitions
Safilo Group revenue fell 4.5 percent year on year to €272.9 million in Q1 FY2026, with most of the decline attributed to the sharp depreciation of the US dollar against the euro. At constant currencies, sales edged up 0.4 percent, exactly in line with Q4 2025.