In Q1 2026 global smart glasses shipments hit 3.566 million units, up 130.1% year on year; Tmall's first 618 phase saw AI glasses sales rise ninefold, and smart glasses joined China's national subsidy list, with 15% off devices under 6,000 yuan. Yet in Danyang, Jiangsu — known as "China's eyewear capital" — small shop owners hesitate: display-equipped AI glasses cost nearly 1,800 yuan wholesale, models iterate fast and merchants lack stock-return guarantees, while industry monitoring puts average AI glasses return rates near 30% on major e-commerce platforms and 40%–50% on Douyin livestreams. Danyang has 1,600+ eyewear companies and 50,000+ workers making over 400 million lens pairs a year — about 75% of China's lens output and half the world's — and local leader Mingyue Optical Lens has been Xiaomi's exclusive optical partner for its AI glasses since June 2025, reporting 6.51 million yuan in cumulative revenue from that business as of Sept 30, 2025 and a 78.6% gross margin on smart-glasses lenses.