Analyst: Google Glass Coming In Q1 2014 with Prescription Version

This is a bit of stating the obvious and stating the already reported, but I want to pass it along just to get out in front of things in case others begin to report this, too.

Jay Srivatsa, a financial analyst with Chardan Capital Markets, recently met with Himax, the Taiwan company that makes the microdisplays being used in Google Glass and shared these forecasts, as reported by Barrons:

[Google] has prompted HIMX to begin production ramp of its LCoS Microdisplays that will feature in every single Glass. We believe Google could potentially introduce its product into the market in Q1:14 and not in Christmas 2013, as has been widely speculated. We also believe Google may be introducing more than one model of Glass upon launch in Q1:14 catering to those who require prescription glasses as well.

That sounds exciting and all, but the Christmas 2013 rumors have been dead for a while now … so I’m not sure I’d put too much faith in the Q1 2014 forecast. Google’s communications team has made numerous references to a “wider consumer launch in 2014.” The Christmas target disappeared ages ago.

And it’s also no secret that Google’s working on a prescription version. We’ve written about that as far back as mid-July, for example.

Competition from Microsoft?

Maybe the most interesting in the Barrons’ article is Srivatsa saying that Himax is producing mini-displays for another company too, and his speculation that the other company could be Microsoft. (There’s a company with a history of following others’ lead, so that wouldn’t surprise me at all.)

For more on the various display technologies available in this space, Josh Braaten wrote this great article earlier this month: Google Glass Gets Another Heads-Up Display Competitor.