<p>Milan: A prospective investment by Meta Platforms in eyeglasses maker EssilorLuxottica will be a "symbolic" gesture to cement their long-term partnership, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told technology news website The Verge.</p><p>Earlier this month, EssilorLuxottica said it had extended its partnership with Meta for developing smart eyewear.</p><p>"I think we've talked about investing in them. It's not going to be a major thing. I'd say it's more of a symbolic thing. We want to have this be a long-term partnership, and as part of that, I thought that this would be a nice gesture," Zuckerberg said in a video interview published late on Wednesday on The Verge.</p>.Meta unveils AR glasses prototype, Zuckerberg's 'time machine' to future.<p>"I fundamentally believe in them a lot. I think that they're going to go from being the premier glasses company in the world to one of the major technology companies in the world," he added.</p><p>In July, EssilorLuxottica confirmed that the tech giant might invest in the company, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies had discussed Meta taking a 5% stake in the French-Italian group.</p><p>EssilorLuxottica and Meta have been collaborating since 2019, creating two generations of Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses.</p><p>Zuckerberg said sales of the latest version were going "very well", with demand much stronger than expected.</p><p>"We thought that Ray-Ban Meta was probably going to sell three or five times more than the first version did. And we just dramatically underestimated it," he said.</p><p>Zuckerberg said it was hard to gauge real demand for Ray-Ban Metas because they had sold out. But more manufacturing lines have been built and the situation has been resolved, he added.</p><p>Facebook owner Meta showed off its first working prototype of augmented-reality glasses, called Orion, during its annual Connect conference on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Milan: A prospective investment by Meta Platforms in eyeglasses maker EssilorLuxottica will be a "symbolic" gesture to cement their long-term partnership, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told technology news website The Verge.</p><p>Earlier this month, EssilorLuxottica said it had extended its partnership with Meta for developing smart eyewear.</p><p>"I think we've talked about investing in them. It's not going to be a major thing. I'd say it's more of a symbolic thing. We want to have this be a long-term partnership, and as part of that, I thought that this would be a nice gesture," Zuckerberg said in a video interview published late on Wednesday on The Verge.</p>.Meta unveils AR glasses prototype, Zuckerberg's 'time machine' to future.<p>"I fundamentally believe in them a lot. I think that they're going to go from being the premier glasses company in the world to one of the major technology companies in the world," he added.</p><p>In July, EssilorLuxottica confirmed that the tech giant might invest in the company, after the Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies had discussed Meta taking a 5% stake in the French-Italian group.</p><p>EssilorLuxottica and Meta have been collaborating since 2019, creating two generations of Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses.</p><p>Zuckerberg said sales of the latest version were going "very well", with demand much stronger than expected.</p><p>"We thought that Ray-Ban Meta was probably going to sell three or five times more than the first version did. And we just dramatically underestimated it," he said.</p><p>Zuckerberg said it was hard to gauge real demand for Ray-Ban Metas because they had sold out. But more manufacturing lines have been built and the situation has been resolved, he added.</p><p>Facebook owner Meta showed off its first working prototype of augmented-reality glasses, called Orion, during its annual Connect conference on Wednesday.</p>