A Citi consumer survey reported by Financial Times' FT Alphaville suggests that 35% of respondents who own or plan to buy AR/VR devices own Meta Glasses, raising questions about the methodology behind the figures. The survey, conducted by WPP/Kantar with 1,000 participants per region, asked people who own or plan to buy at least one tech device including smartphones, computers, TVs, video games, tablets, AR/VR glasses, and smartwatches. Citi clarified that the 35% figure refers specifically to the subset already owning AR/VR/smart glasses, not all respondents.

The bank also stated that 22% of global respondents have or plan to buy an AR/VR/smartglass device. Based on these numbers, FT Alphaville calculated that approximately 8% of all tech-engaged humans might own Meta Glasses, potentially translating to hundreds of millions of users. However, Citi later suggested the questions were framed around household penetration, estimating personal device penetration closer to 2%.

Even applying this to the combined populations of the UK, US, China, and Japan, the figure reaches roughly 40 million units, or 160 million globally. Essilor Luxottica, the maker of Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, is set to report earnings next month, which may clarify the actual sales figures.