The distribution giant quietly entered the niche track and bet on the same blue ocean as Luo Yonghao

Recently revealed news shows that the cross-border e-commerce giant Huakai Yibai has quietly laid out a niche track.

Entering the smart glasses market

Recently, an investor asked Huakai Yibai: "According to news reports, a new smart audio glasses company recently received 10 million yuan in angel round financing. This company is called Shenzhen Aiju Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., which was established in May 2020. It mainly focuses on the research and development, production and sales of smart audio glasses. It is a one-stop smart audio glasses ODM customization service provider. Commonly known as AR glasses. May I ask if your company has directly or indirectly participated in the investment?"

Huakai Yibai responded that Shenzhen Aiju Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. is a joint venture company invested by Qingdao Xizi Yixijie Equity Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), a joint venture company of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary Shenzhen Yibai Network Technology Co., Ltd. in July 2021.

This means that as early as more than three years ago, Huakai Yibai had already made its presence felt in the smart glasses market. According to Qichacha data, Qingdao Xizi Yixijie Equity Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) currently holds a 10% stake in Shenzhen Aiju Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.

In fact, the tens of millions of dollars of financing obtained by Aiju Intelligent came from Jizi Wealth, an affiliated institution of Jizi Ezekiel, but the investment time was not recent, but in 2021.

In recent years, the popularity of smart glasses has soared and entered a stage of explosive growth. Many big names in the domestic technology industry have keenly captured this business opportunity and made decisive moves to seize the initiative in this potential market. Wu Dajun, the founder of Aiju Intelligent, is one of them.

Before founding Aiju Intelligence, Wu Dajun had been working in the field of smart wearables for nearly 10 years. Aidu Technology, the smart wearable ODM company he founded, achieved remarkable results in 2021, with annual sales exceeding 1 billion yuan and shipments exceeding 10 million units. It mainly produces and sells smart bracelets, smart watches and other products.

In 2020, relying on the design, development, marketing and channel experience accumulated in the field of wrist smart wearables, Wu Dajun resolutely stepped into the smart glasses track. This time, he was determined to build his own brand - Feiru Jimo, and no longer just act as an OEM and make wedding clothes for others.

On Wu Dajun's road to developing the field of smart glasses, AiJu Intelligent co-founder Cao Hui is his capable partner. Cao Hui is a senior expert in the field of micro-acoustic components and solutions. She has worked at AAC Technologies for 12 years and has been deeply involved in the field of consumer electronics for a long time.

During this period, he worked for a number of industry giants such as Nokia, Motorola, Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, and his professional ability was widely recognized. It is particularly worth mentioning that the micro microphone module used in the 2011 Apple Macbook Air2 ultra-thin notebook was led by Cao Hui as the chief R&D engineer, which fully demonstrated his outstanding ability in the R&D of acoustic components.

The booming market segment

According to Luotu Technology's forecast, the global smart glasses market shipments will exceed 3.75 million pairs in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 139.2%; the Chinese market is expected to have shipments of 357,000 pairs, a year-on-year increase of 113.8%.

According to data from Grand View Research, the global smart glasses market size is estimated to be US$1.93 billion in 2024, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 27.3% from 2025 to 2030.

By type, smart glasses are mainly divided into two camps: one is audio smart glasses that focus on audio functions; the other is immersive smart glasses that focus on immersive interactive experience.

In 2024, audio smart glasses will account for the largest revenue share in the market segment, reaching approximately 26.7%. The reason for this is that consumers' demand for hands-free audio experience continues to rise. This type of smart glasses with audio functions are favored by consumers who pursue seamless integration of entertainment and practicality.

With them, users can easily listen to music, answer calls, and interact with virtual assistants without additional accessories, which greatly improves convenience and meets people's pursuit of efficient and multi-functional products in today's fast-paced life. Aiju Smart is entering this track.

However, driven by the growing demand for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications, the immersive smartglasses segment is expected to achieve a CAGR of over 29% during the forecast period, becoming the fastest growing segment.

As more industries realize the benefits of immersive technologies, sectors such as retail, education, and healthcare are increasingly adopting smart glasses to enhance user engagement and interactive training experiences. The expansion of 5G and improvements in graphics rendering are also contributing to the growth of this segment as they provide a smoother and more realistic visual experience, which is attractive to both enterprise and consumer markets.

Currently, in the immersive smart glasses segment, domestic leading companies have formed groups to go overseas, and capital has also poured in. INMO, Thunderbird Innovation, XREAL, and Rokid are collectively known as the "AR Four Little Dragons". Today, these brands have successfully entered the overseas market and have received several rounds of financing. Last year alone, the total investment amount received by the "AR Four Little Dragons" exceeded 1.6 billion yuan.

Now, there are still new participants joining this track, and Luo Yonghao is one of them. In August last year, Luo Yonghao's official account posted a post on Xiaohongshu saying that due to the gradual development of business in Singapore and the United States, the overseas branch of his AR glasses company Xihongxian Technology is recruiting personnel.

Big sales with both big and small details

Huakai Yibai is a well-known distributor in the cross-border circle. According to the financial report, in 2023, its revenue has reached 6.518 billion yuan, and its net profit attributable to the parent company is 332 million yuan. Such a company is already a giant ship sailing on the overseas track.

In 2024, Huakai Yibai successfully acquired another leading cross-border e-commerce company, Tongtuo Technology, for 700 million in cash, which added strong momentum. According to relevant information, Tongtuo Technology achieved operating income of 3.413 billion yuan in 2023.

Moreover, most of the categories of home furnishings, electronics, clothing, instruments and tools, and model toys that Tongtuo Technology operates are areas that Huakai Yibai has rarely been involved in before. This acquisition has greatly expanded Huakai Yibai's product categories.

At present, the market advantage of the distribution model is gradually fading, and Huakai Yibai, which has long relied on this model to achieve development, has once caused concerns about its prospects. However, as its layout in the sub-sectors gradually surfaced, this concern has also been alleviated.

In fact, Tongtuo Technology has already started to expand the subdivided track more than three years ago. In December 2021, Tongtuo Technology announced that it would become an "angel investor" and set up a cross-border e-commerce equity investment fund, focusing on the investment and incubation of cross-border e-commerce team projects.

There are two types of partners: one is innovative entrepreneurial teams: small and beautiful vertical cross-border e-commerce operation teams; cross-border platform business has been opened and is operating normally (Amazon and Walmart are the best); sales of 2-5 million RMB/month, team average output of 1 million RMB/month; large profit potential, good operating indicators. The second is potential star products: high quality, core competitiveness; high user satisfaction, good reputation; great market potential; able to respond and adjust quickly according to market and consumer needs.

With the successful completion of Huakai Yibai's acquisition of Tongtuo Technology, the high-quality results achieved by Tongtuo Technology's projects in the segmented track layout will be integrated into Huakai Yibai's business system without any obstacles.

Huakai Yibai

Aiju Intelligence

Luo Yonghao