Qualcomm introduces Snapdragon Reality Elite along with a white-label toolkit for AI glasses, betting that the upcoming platform will not be a smartphone.

      Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon Reality Elite for mixed reality headsets and the START toolkit for smart glasses on Tuesday. The CEO mentioned that over 40 designs for AI wearables are in progress.

      The two products are aimed at positioning Qualcomm as a key supplier for future computing devices that may replace smartphones. Snapdragon Reality Elite is a mixed-reality chip platform featuring enhanced AI processing capabilities for headsets and tethered eyewear. START is designed as a comprehensive toolkit for eyewear manufacturers, allowing them to create branded smart glasses without needing to develop the underlying technology.

      CEO Cristiano Amon stated in a CNBC interview that Qualcomm is developing more than 40 AI wearable devices, which include jewelry, camera-equipped earbuds, pins, and watches. He emphasized the goal is to create devices that are always worn and capable of interacting with the environment.

      Snapdragon Reality Elite offers up to 60% more GPU performance, 30% better CPU performance, and 160% enhanced NPU performance compared to the previous XR2+ Gen 2 platform. Its neural processing unit is capable of 48 TOPS, allowing it to run a 3-billion-parameter language model at 45 tokens per second. Additionally, the platform grants extended battery life and operates cooler than its predecessor.

      The chip also supports 4.4K resolution per eye at 90 frames per second, a slight upgrade from the XR2+ Gen 2’s 4.3K resolution. Qualcomm claims the new chip enhances both head and hand tracking, as well as overall transparency performance, which can help reduce motion sickness and eye strain experienced with mixed reality headsets.

      Reality Elite targets two types of devices: standalone video-see-through headsets that overlay digital visuals on a real-world camera feed, akin to the Meta Quest, and lightweight tethered optical-see-through glasses that integrate digital imagery into the wearer’s view.

      Initial products utilizing this platform include XREAL’s Project Aura, shown during Google I/O, featuring a 70-degree field of view and binocular displays, along with a device from Play for Dream. Qualcomm has yet to reveal pricing or a timeline for the release of consumer products.

      START, which stands for Scalable Turnkey AI-Ready Toolkit, combines a hardware module based on Qualcomm’s AR1+ chip with a software platform, companion apps for iOS and Android, an AI cloud solution, and three reference designs. The designs include a configuration similar to Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, a monocular display variant, and a binocular display variant.

      The initial partnerships for this program include eyewear manufacturer Inspecs and O’Neill, the latter owned by TitanFlex. Qualcomm has also invested $10 million in Inspecs by acquiring new shares. This move indicates Qualcomm’s commitment to not just licensing technology but also securing a financial interest in the supply chain for these devices.

      The rationale is that traditional eyewear companies have the necessary design experience, distribution channels, and consumer trust to market smart glasses as fashion items, but lack expertise in chip design, AI, and sensor integration. START aims to fill that gap, similarly to how Qualcomm helped manufacturers develop smartphones on its Snapdragon platform in earlier years. The company plans to expand START beyond smart glasses to other categories in the future.

      The market landscape is highly competitive and rapidly evolving. Meta has sold over seven million pairs of Ray-Ban smart glasses, holding about 82% of the market, with plans to increase annual production to 10 million units by 2026. Snap recently launched its $2,195 Specs AR glasses.

      Apple is said to be testing various frame designs with an eye towards a potential 2027 launch. Google will release Android XR audio glasses this autumn in partnership with Samsung, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster. Many of these devices already utilize Qualcomm silicon, but the company is now developing an integrated solution rather than relying on partners to create it independently.

      Qualcomm is banking on the idea that no single company will monopolize the smart glasses market. If the smart glasses segment fragments like the smartphone market, with multiple manufacturers utilizing a shared platform, Qualcomm stands to benefit regardless of which brand prevails. This strategy mirrors its approach in the mobile phone industry, and Amon’s pipeline of 40 devices suggests the company anticipates a quicker transition than the market currently perceives.

      However, these claims are still largely speculative. The 48 TOPS rating and performance figures are based on Qualcomm’s own assessments, and there haven’t been any independent evaluations published. The 40 AI wearable designs discussed by Amon are at varying stages of development and are not yet available as consumer products.

      The potential growth of the smart glasses category to justify Qualcomm’s investments depends on consumer adoption, which has been mostly limited to Meta’s ecosystem and a few developer-targeted devices. Qualcomm is making a structural bet on the inevitability of the shift away from smartphones, but the timeline for this transition remains uncertain.