Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is preparing a direct assault on the global $200 billion eyewear market, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who laid out the strategy in Sunday’s “Power On” newsletter.

The first device, codenamed N50, was previously planned for a late 2026 unveiling with shipments in early 2027. Gurman now reports the timeline has slipped to late 2027, with the delay tied to development of an upgraded personalized Siri rather than hardware bottlenecks.

Rather than chasing the boutique smart glasses category, Apple is going straight at the $200 to $500 mainstream segment that EssilorLuxottica owns through Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol and Oliver Peoples, with Safilo Group and Warby Parker Inc. (NYSE:WRBY) filling out the field.

CEO Tim Cook reportedly views the glasses as his “top priority” before handing the reins to John Ternus on September 1. The product features oval-shaped cameras, multiple frame styles and color options including black, ocean blue and light brown. The first model will not include an in-lens augmented reality display.

The Apple disruption thesis is not new, and the market has already responded.

EssilorLuxottica shares had their worst week in nearly four years in February when initial reports of Apple’s 2027 launch surfaced. The stock fell 9.6% in a single week and is down roughly 14% year-to-date. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Diana Gomes wrote that Apple competition “heightens the risk of prolonged margin dilution” and that EssilorLuxottica may have to “live with AI-glasses margin dilution in the medium-term.”

Warby Parker closed at $25.68 on May 27, with a 52-week range of $14.96 to $30.90. The stock has whipsawed on competing partnership news, dropping 9% on its own Google partnership disclosure on May 19 before rallying 26% over the following week.

Apple barely moves on Gurman reports given its roughly $4.58 trillion market cap. The actionable trades sit downstream.

Sell-side opinion on Warby Parker is split. TD Cowen carries a Buy with a $34 price target. Piper Sandler holds Overweight at $32. Roth Capital is Neutral at $24. The disagreement reflects how little the new Apple timeline actually changes for an incumbent that already has a tech partner.

When Apple launched the Watch in 2015, three companies split the mid-tier wristwatch market. Swatch Group owned Tissot, Hamilton and Longines. Fossil Group owned Michael Kors, Armani and Kate Spade. Movado owned Coach, Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger.

A decade later, Swatch revenue is 28% lower than 2014 and Fossil’s sales fell roughly 70%. Apple became the world’s largest watchmaker by unit volume and last year overtook Rolex as the number one watch brand by sales. Apple Watch now generates an estimated $17 billion annually.

The eyewear category looks different in one critical respect: the incumbents have hedged.

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) already controls roughly 82% of global smart glasses shipments through its Ray-Ban Meta partnership with EssilorLuxottica. Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) announced its own partnership with Warby Parker, Gentle Monster and Samsung at I/O 2026, with a fall 2026 launch and a $150 million Alphabet investment in Warby Parker.

Swatch and Fossil had no smart-watch strategy when Apple arrived, whereas EssilorLuxottica and Warby Parker already have tier-one platform partners.

EssilorLuxottica generated €28.5 billion in 2025 revenue, growing 11.2% at constant exchange rates. The company sold over 7 million AI-enabled Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta units in 2025. CFO Stefano Grassi has explicitly cited Meta wearables as a growth driver, meaning EssilorLuxottica is monetizing the category transition rather than being displaced by it.

Warby Parker reported $871.9 million in 2025 revenue, up 13%, and posted its first full year of positive net income at $1.6 million. 2026 guidance calls for $959 million to $976 million in revenue, with adjusted EBITDA margin at 10.9%.

The stock trades at roughly 140 times forward earnings based on 2026 consensus EPS near $0.19, with a price-to-sales ratio of 3.62. That multiple prices in significant smart glasses optionality the company has not yet earned. Roth Capital is modeling roughly $44 million in smart glasses revenue from 130,000 units, mostly in the second half of 2026.

Safilo is the cleaner short. Its licensed-brand model (Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger) lacks both the design heritage that protected Ray-Ban and a major tech partnership of its own.

Forward Catalysts & Risks

Watch Apple’s WWDC keynote on June 9 for any teaser. Watch the September 1 CEO transition for any change in product priority under Ternus. Watch EssilorLuxottica’s Q2 earnings and Warby Parker’s Q2 print on August 5 for the first commentary on Apple competition.

Three risks. First, Apple slips again, since Gurman has already moved the timeline once. Second, Apple’s real AR glasses with displays are reportedly not arriving before 2030, while a thinner Vision Pro is targeted for late 2028 or 2029, making resource competition real. Third, eyewear is a 600-year-old fashion category, and disruption math is harder when the incumbent product is well-loved style rather than commodity quartz movement.

Bottom Line

The Apple disruption thesis has already cost EssilorLuxottica 14% of its market cap year-to-date. Sunday’s Gurman update pushes the launch out a year, which is short-term constructive for the incumbents. The medium-term call is more nuanced than the Watch playbook suggests, because EssilorLuxottica and Warby Parker have tech partners while Safilo does not.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.