Insights

AI Glasses and Periscope Cameras Pull Precision Optics Demand

Published by TUOLAN TRADE on 2026-09-27 · Updated 2026-09-27

Folded periscope telephoto prism assembly beside waveguide display glass wafers, moulded aspheric lenses and a coated optical window

INDUSTRY NEWS · VISIBLE-LIGHT PRECISION OPTICS · SEPTEMBER 2026

Two very different products pulled visible-light optics in the same direction this week: a flagship phone that folds light through a prism, and a pair of smart glasses that tries to hide an entire display inside a few millimetres of glass. Both reward the same thing — precision at volume.

On 24 September 2026, OFweek Optics reported that OFILM (欧菲光) had won the periscope telephoto module order for two consecutive flagship generations from Xiaomi. On 25 September 2026, the same outlet examined demand for AI glasses ahead of China’s Golden Week holiday, a period when consumer electronics sell in volume. Earlier industry data put first-half 2026 global AI glasses shipments up roughly 263% year on year.

The two stories are technically unrelated and commercially linked. A periscope telephoto module folds the optical path sideways so a long focal length fits inside a thin phone body; smart glasses fold the optical path into a waveguide so an image can be projected into the wearer’s eye. Both convert space constraints into tolerance requirements, and both are fabricated from the same families of precision glass parts: prisms, aspheres, thin plates and coated windows.

Why visible-light optics is the growing side of the order book

Folding the light path multiplies the number of precision surfaces. A periscope module adds a prism and a folded lens group to what used to be a straight stack. Each added surface carries its own figure error, centring tolerance and coating spec, so module complexity rises faster than module count.
Waveguides are a coating and uniformity problem as much as a design problem. Waveguide display routes differ in how they couple light in and out, but they share the requirement that a thin glass or polymer plate delivers an even image across the whole field of view. That is a process capability, not a laboratory result.
Handheld imaging hardware keeps a concentrated customer base. The same week’s reporting put Chinese brands at roughly 93% of the global handheld smart camera market. Concentration cuts both ways: volumes are large and predictable, but negotiating power sits with a handful of buyers.
Defence and automotive infrared pulled the other end of the precision-optics market last quarter. Reports of an RMB 660 million order book at an ultra-precision optics maker, with roughly 69% going to semiconductor-related applications, show that the same grinding and polishing capacity is contested by infrared, semiconductor and consumer demand at once.
Capacity is the shared constraint. Prism polishing, asphere moulding and coating lines serve all of these products. When one application accelerates, the others see longer lead times rather than higher prices first, because most of these parts are quoted per programme.

Interferometer measuring a polished lens surface on a metrology bench with an MTF test chart and fringe pattern display — Surface figure and MTF are verified on the bench, not on the drawing. For folded camera modules and waveguide plates, the measurement map matters as much as the nominal tolerance. Illustration generated for TUOLAN TRADE industry analysis.

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How to quote visible-light optics for folding and waveguide designs

Send the tolerance that actually matters, not a general grade. For folded assemblies, centring and surface figure dominate the budget. For waveguide plates, thickness uniformity and coating uniformity across the aperture dominate. One drawing cannot serve both.
State the waveband and the coating requirement together. A visible-band anti-reflection coating and a VIS–NIR broadband coating are different processes with different yields. Asking for both “just in case” raises cost without improving the result.
Ask how the supplier verifies uniformity across the part. A single-point transmission or MTF figure says nothing about the edges of a waveguide plate. Request a measurement map with the sample.
Plan a first article, then a capacity conversation. For aspheres and prisms, the first article proves the process; the second conversation should be about how many parts per month the line can hold for you when a programme ramps.
Keep infrared and visible-light RFQs separate. They share a factory but not a specification set. Mixed enquiries are the most common reason quotes come back incomparable.

Need visible-light lenses, prisms, windows or coatings quoted?

Send your drawing, waveband, tolerances, coating requirement, quantity and target schedule to sales@tuolango.com and we will return a sourcing comparison with sample options.

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Sources and disclosure

Sources: OFweek Optics report of 24 September 2026 on OFILM winning periscope telephoto module orders for two consecutive Xiaomi flagship generations; OFweek Optics report of 25 September 2026 on AI glasses demand ahead of China’s Golden Week holiday; C114 report of 24 September 2026 citing a 263% year-on-year increase in global AI glasses shipments in the first half of 2026; OFweek Optics report of 23 September 2026 on Chinese brands holding roughly 93% of the global handheld smart camera market; OFweek Optics report of 26 September 2026 on an ultra-precision optics maker reporting RMB 660 million of orders with roughly 69% tied to semiconductor applications. Capacity and procurement guidance is TUOLAN TRADE analysis. Edited and analysed by TUOLAN TRADE.