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Intel buys $25 million stake in Google Glass rival Vuzix

Intel buys $25 million stake in Google Glass rival Vuzix

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Intel has bought a 30 percent stake worth $24.8 million in smart glasses manufacturer Vuzix. The US chip-maker may have missed out on rise of the smartphone (the vast majority of mobile chipsets are designed by rival ARM), but is apparently determined to be at the forefront of wearables. Intel has already a "multiyear collaboration" with luxury brand Luxottica to "anticipate what smart technology for eyewear will look like in the future" and it's been rumored that the firm will be supplying the processors for the next generation of Google Glass.

Vuzix has already begun selling its smartglasses to enterprise customers in China

By buying a stake in Vuzix, however, Intel is also getting involved in the enterprise side of wearables — an area where functionality trumps stylishness. Vuzix’s flagship M100 smart glasses may have been fairly rudimentary when we tried them out last year, but that hasn't stopped the company securing a deal with Lenovo to sell the devices to industrial and commercial markets in China. Vuzix says it's also targeting the medical, retail, and materials management sectors, claiming that companies can use the M100’s internet-connected display to give workers "unprecedented access to information, data collection and more." Google is trying to crack the same markets with its Glass at Work scheme, developing the software that will help Glass connect to real workplace scenarios.

For Vuzix, though, the investment comes at a critical time. Although its third quarter revenue in 2014 was up 96 percent to $664,586, its net loss for that same period was a little over $3.3 million. Wearables may be a highly promising, even futuristic area of the tech world, but early movers are still finding it hard to keep afloat without the financial assistance of established companies.