• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

Following major budget cuts to its Reality Labs metaverse division, Meta has issued an unexpected pause to its planned international expansion of its newest Ray-Ban Smart Glasses model, “Meta Ray-Ban Display.”

According to the company’s announcement, the product is facing “extremely limited inventory,” with waitlists now extending “well into 2026” and will no longer ship to U.K., France, Italy, or Canada -- countries initially scheduled for early 2026 delivery.

“We’ll continue to focus on fulfilling orders in the US while we re-evaluate our approach to international availability,” Meta’s statement reads.

Meta unveiled its Display glasses in September. The Ray-Ban branded XR product is controlled by a “Neural Band” wrist controller and comes equipped with an AI assistant as well as cameras, speakers, and microphones, allowing users to connect to the cloud to access the internet and social apps.

For its holiday retail push, Meta set up brick-and-mortar shopping experiences across the United States, announcing in late September that appointments for in-person demos of the Ray-Ban Display and Neural Band products were already booked out through mid-October, showcasing possible heightened consumer interest.

At Las Vegas’ CES event this week, Meta shared that its Display wearables will soon come equipped with a feature that provides users with a portable way to deliver prepared remarks, as if they were reading a teleprompter. 

In early December, reports surfaced about Meta’s 30% spending cuts across its Reality Labs metaverse division, specifically to its Horizon Worlds VR platform and Quest VR development.

When Meta divided Reality Labs into two distinct sectors -- “Metaverse” and “Wearables” -- in 2024, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would move away from metaverse projects, while funneling more funds into the development of its new Ray-Ban Smart Glasses models.