Alibaba Just Crashed the AI Glasses Party--and It's Not Playing Small

Alibaba BABA isn't just testing the hardware waters it's stepping straight into the deep end of China's fast-moving smart-glasses race. The company has begun selling its first Qwen-powered Quark S1 glasses, a headset that could be the clearest signal yet of Alibaba's shift toward an AI-first identity. Priced at 3,799 yuan, the S1 overlays contextual data onto a user's real-world view while packing cameras, bone-conduction microphones, and swappable batteries designed to run for 24 hours. A second model, the 1,899-yuan Quark G1, skips the micro-OLED displays but keeps Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 platform, a chip built specifically for augmented-reality glasses and on-device AI processing.

This hardware push arrives just as Alibaba's upgraded Qwen app has picked up substantial early traction, drawing more than 10 million users shortly after launch and generating what CEO Eddie Wu described as exceptional user retention. The company is starting to stitch Qwen into more corners of its ecosystem from the Quark desktop browser to this new wearables lineup in a way that could be setting the stage for a broader shift in how Alibaba builds consumer experiences. The S1 is already on sale through Tmall, JD.com, Douyin and more than 600 stores across 82 cities in China, with international variants planned for next year on platforms including AliExpress, according to Alibaba's Quark unit.

What makes the timing compelling is how quickly China's smart-eyewear market has grown. IDC estimates roughly 1.6 million smart-glasses shipments in the year to September more than 2 million when counting models with built-in displays and Xiaomi currently holds about a third of that volume. IDC research director Sophie Pan said Alibaba's arrival could introduce new dynamics into this competitive landscape, especially as global players such as Meta push higher-priced, screen-integrated models like its $799 Ray-Ban Display. Alibaba is leaning on ecosystem advantages to differentiate, connecting the Quark hardware to Taobao shopping, Fliggy travel booking, Alipay payments, and music services from NetEase Cloud Music and Tencent's QQ Music.