Growth drivers of the eyewear market
With the improvement of people's living standards and the enhancement of vision care awareness, the demand for eyewear consumption has continued to increase, driving the expansion of the market size. In addition, the demand for functional lenses has also continued to increase, further promoting the growth of the market.
Functions and types of glasses
Glasses are a device used to improve vision, protect eyes or as a fashion accessory. It consists of a frame and lenses. The frame is responsible for supporting and fixing the lenses, while the lenses play a role in correcting vision or protecting the eyes. In terms of function, glasses are mainly divided into two categories: vision correction glasses and protective glasses.
Vision correction glasses include myopia glasses, hyperopia glasses, astigmatism glasses, etc. They correct vision problems by adjusting the optical properties of the lenses; protective glasses are mainly used to prevent eyes from external damage, such as anti-blue light glasses can reduce the damage to the eyes from blue light released by electronic devices, and sunglasses can block strong sunlight and ultraviolet rays.
Types of eyeglass lenses
Eyeglass lenses are an important part of glasses. Their main function is to correct vision and improve vision problems such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. The material, design and function of the lens have an important impact on its effect. Eyeglass lenses mainly include glass lenses, resin lenses and crystal lenses.
- Glass lenses have excellent optical properties and can reduce the damage of ultraviolet rays to the eyes, but they are heavy and fragile.
- Resin lenses are a kind of organic glass, which is light, not easy to break, safe, and easy to process, but its hardness is low and easy to scratch.
- Crystal lenses are a kind of transparent quartz crystals, the main component of which is silicon dioxide.
Industry status and market size
At present, glasses have become one of the indispensable items in people's daily life. In addition to traditional myopia glasses, hyperopia glasses and presbyopia glasses, there are also various functional glasses, such as anti-blue light glasses, night vision goggles, goggles, etc. In addition, with the development of science and technology, new eyewear products such as smart glasses are gradually entering the market. For example, the emergence of VR glasses makes the virtual reality experience more realistic; the emergence of smart glasses has transformed glasses from a simple vision correction tool to a portable device that can receive information, make calls and other functions.
Consumers' demand for glasses and lenses focuses on improving vision, relieving visual fatigue, avoiding harmful light irritating the eyes, etc. When choosing lenses for their children, they pay special attention to the protection of children's eyes and myopia prevention and control functions. Famous brands in China's eyewear industry include Visionox, Carl Zeiss, Wanxin, and Mingyue. International brands still have an advantage; the concentration of the lens market will further increase in the future, and domestic leading brands will have a good opportunity to rise.
Analysis of China's eyewear production and market
China's eyewear production is relatively concentrated. After years of development, Danyang, Jiangsu and Henggang, Shenzhen have become important bases for the combination of production and sales of Chinese eyewear. These eyewear production bases gather most of China's eyewear production capacity, providing a steady stream of product support for the domestic and world markets. In 2022, the global eyewear industry market size is about US$99.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. Among them, Asia, North America and Europe are the most important markets for the global eyewear industry, and the three markets account for nearly 90% of the total market. Among them, the Asian market accounts for about 33.37%, the North American market accounts for about 27.69%, and the European market accounts for about 26.18%.
After nearly a decade of rapid development, China's total eyewear production currently accounts for 70% of the world's total production. China has not only become the world's leading eyewear production country, but also one of the countries with the greatest potential for eyewear consumption in the world. Data shows that in 2022, the market size of China's eyewear industry is about 110.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%. Among them, the sunglasses market accounts for 34.7%; the glasses frame market accounts for 27.7%; the glasses lens market accounts for 23.6%; and the contact lens market accounts for 12.5%.
Import and export situation
As the penetration rate, frequency of use and duration of electronic products continue to increase, consumers' awareness of optical protection continues to increase. Functional eyewear products such as blue light protection, eye fatigue relief and children's glasses are also suitable for people with healthy vision, bringing a larger potential audience scale. Consumers' brand awareness of eyewear stores is significantly higher than that of glasses and lenses
In January 2024, China's export value of glasses and their parts was 815.557 million US dollars, an increase of 56.744 million US dollars compared with the same period in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%. In January 2023, China's export value of glasses and their parts was 758.813 million US dollars.
Industry Outlook Forecast
The prospects of the eyewear industry are promising. On the one hand, with the aging of the population and the increase in the use of electronic products, the number of people with vision problems will increase, which will provide a broad market space for the eyewear industry. On the other hand, with the development of science and technology, new eyewear products and technologies will continue to emerge, driving the development of the industry.
In summary, the eyewear industry is not only growing in market demand and scale, but also showing strong momentum in technological innovation and product diversity. In the future, with the advancement of science and technology and the increasing attention people pay to vision health, the eyewear industry will usher in a broader development prospect.
