In a strategic move that underscores the expected growth of the AR industry, SCHOTT—a global leader in advanced optics and specialty glass—has announced the completion of a new production facility in Kulim, Malaysia. This development comes just a day after Meta unveiled its latest AR glasses prototype.

The new facility in Kulim is set to significantly boost Schott’s production capacity for optical components, which are crucial for AR devices. The plant is expected to create approximately 400 engineering and production jobs.

“This new site will significantly enhance Schott’s capacity to supply high-quality optical components to international high-tech industries, including Augmented Reality (AR),” the company says.

Image courtesy Schott

Schott’s expansion is timely, aligning with the industry’s anticipation of a surge in demand for AR lenses and optical components. The company’s longstanding presence in Penang, Malaysia—where it has operated for 50 years—has laid a strong foundation for this new venture. The Kulim facility complements the Penang site, enhancing Schott’s ability to supply high-quality optical components to international industries.

The announcement closely follows Meta’s reveal of its ‘Orion’ AR glasses prototype, highlighting a significant industry push towards more immersive and compact AR experiences. For AR to become a mainstream technology, it needs to be built upon technologies than can be affordably manufactured at scale. Schott’s expertise in delivering high-precision optics—and its anticipatory expansion—positions the company to be a key supplier in this evolving market.

Schott has been a longstanding partner of Lumus, which makes unique waveguides for AR. It’s likely the new facility has been geared toward the kind of manufacturing needed to manufacture Lumus optics at a large scale. Meanwhile, Meta says it new Orion glasses rely on silicon carbide lenses, rather than glass, to achieve a wide field-of-view.

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Schott’s Advanced Optics business unit has a global manufacturing network with centers in Germany, North America, Switzerland, and China; the expansion in Malaysia is a strategic addition to this network.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • psuedonymous

    AR is not the only user of SiC substrates. They're a premiere material for satellite mirrors (more durable than glass, no toxicity issues unlike Beryllium), particularly for laser inter-satellite and ground up/down link. Not only does Starlink use these already, but the DoD is building out multiple large constellations based on laser links so there is high and growing demand for SiC production.