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Wency Chen

Rokid, a Hangzhou-based maker of smart glasses, is preparing to file for a Hong Kong listing as early as the end of April, according to sources familiar with the matter, as artificial intelligence-powered eyewear gains traction in the mainstream market.
The planned listing comes as global and domestic technology groups including Meta Platforms and Apple, as well as China’s Alibaba Group Holding – through the brand name Quark – Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei Technologies, all rush into the market. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
A growing number of start-ups are also vying for attention, including Rokid, INMO and RayNeo, a sub-brand of TCL, while tapping capital markets to fund expansion. Xreal, a Beijing-based maker of glasses focused on augmented reality (AR), filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering last week.
Rokid said on Wednesday it was capable of pursuing an initial public offering, but plans had yet to be finalised.
Rokid was co-founded in 2014 by CEO Misa Zhu Mingming, who studied at Zhejiang University and University of California, Berkeley, before launching a start-up that was acquired in 2010 by Alibaba, where he led an innovation lab.
The company makes both industrial and consumer-grade AR glasses, as well as AI-powered eyewear, a format popularised by Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses.
Rokid’s AI glasses, which feature dual-eye monochrome displays, integrated cameras and audio, support real-time translation, a teleprompter function, conversational AI, navigation and eye-scanning payment.
Rokid completed a shareholding restructuring in March, a move widely seen as a step towards listing, according to Chinese corporate data tracker Qichacha. Its investor base has evolved from early venture capital backers to a broader mix of state-backed funds and industrial investors.
In March, optical lens maker Conant Optical said it would invest 180 million yuan (US$26 million) in Rokid’s latest funding round, taking a stake of less than 5 per cent.
Co-founder Wang Shun Tak, a veteran financial executive with experience at Alibaba, Kingsoft and Xiaomi, rejoined as an adviser, showing up at an event in November.
Rokid began to establish a viable business model in the second half of last year, according to a source.
Zhu said in November that cumulative sales of its AI glasses had exceeded 300,000 units and run into supply chain bottlenecks, adding that total shipments across its product lines could reach 1 million units in 2026.
Global shipments of AI glasses reached 8.7 million units in 2025, a 322 per cent increase, with Meta accounting for 85.2 per cent of the market, according to Omdia data.
China, where Meta has no direct presence, accounted for 10.9 per cent of global shipments and recorded the fastest growth, driven by a wave of product launches, new entrants and aggressive pricing thanks to the country’s extensive consumer electronics supply chain.
Xreal, which focuses more on AR-focused products, has yet to turn a profit despite its revenue rising to 516 million yuan in 2025 from 390 million yuan in 2023. Net losses narrowed to 456 million yuan from 882 million yuan over the same period.


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Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth


Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth.


Chinese AI glasses maker Rokid planning Hong Kong IPO: sources

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth

Listing plan comes as giants Apple, Meta, Alibaba, Baidu, Xiaomi and Huawei, plus start-ups like Xreal, Rayneo, anticipate market growth