Meta is deepening its push into South Korea's artificial intelligence glasses market through a partnership with NAVER. After launching AI glasses in the country in May and expanding Korean-language support and distribution, Meta is now adding NAVER Map's walking navigation, extending its reach into everyday services in Korea. With Google's AI glasses launch imminent, the move is seen as an effort to secure services familiar to local users first and seize the initiative in the market.
Meta said on the 29th that it will add real-time walking directions based on NAVER Map to its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta AI glasses this year.
The partnership lets users receive guidance on direction, entrances, stairs and escalators through the glasses' open-ear speakers without taking out a smartphone. Users walking can also call up a NAVER Map-based agent by voice to check information on nearby cafes or hospitals.
The tie-up is seen as a strategy to expand Meta's position in Korea by making its AI glasses more useful locally. With AI glasses from Google and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) due this year, the company aims to broaden user touchpoints by securing a leading Korean daily-life service such as NAVER Map before rival products enter the market. Industry watchers say competition in AI glasses is spreading beyond hardware performance into a race to build service ecosystems that people can use in daily life.
NAVER is the first Korean company Meta has partnered with in AI glasses. "We will look for synergies centered on areas where cooperation with Meta is possible in mapping," a NAVER official said. "Nothing has been finalized beyond maps and advertising, but we are keeping the possibility of future cooperation broadly open."
Meta is also quickly widening its product lineup in Korea. After releasing Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta in May, the company included Korea among the launch markets for its new Meta glasses this month. It also unveiled a collection co-designed with Blackpink's Lisa, applying K-pop intellectual property directly to AI glasses products to expand contact with consumers.
Technology industry officials expect Meta to invest not only in hardware in Korea but also in expanding an AI service ecosystem built on it. No Korean launch date has been set, but Meta recently brought its personal AI agent Muse to its AI glasses and unveiled Muse Charm, a small AI device. The company is also expanding links between Muse and outside services, leaving room for wider cooperation with NAVER and other Korean platforms.
Recent hiring in Korea points in the same direction. Meta has hired staff to run in-store display and trial programs for Reality Labs products, including AI smart glasses, in Korea. It separately added staff to set sales strategy for AI wearables in the country and find new distribution partners. Notably, one job posting included retail rollout of "future wearables" in Korea within the scope of the role. That is seen as groundwork for distributing follow-on devices such as Muse Charm, beyond AI glasses, and building a Meta-centered ecosystem of AI devices and services in Korea.
"Once Google enters the AI glasses market, the center of gravity in competition will shift beyond hardware to securing service ecosystems that users actually use, such as maps, search and shopping," an industry official said. "Meta's cooperation with NAVER can also be seen as a strategy to secure services familiar to Korean users and broaden user touchpoints ahead of rival products."
