Lenses refer to transparent materials with one or more curved surfaces made of optical materials such as glass or resin. After polishing, they are often assembled with eyeglass frames to form glasses, which are used to correct the user's vision and obtain a clear field of vision. There are many ways to classify lenses, which can be classified according to the material, function and surface processing technology of the lens. According to different materials, lenses can be mainly divided into glass lenses, resin lenses, PC lenses, etc.; according to surface processing, they can be divided into spherical lenses and aspherical lenses.
In terms of the industrial chain, the upstream involves the supply of raw materials and equipment such as glass, plastic, and resin; the midstream entities are midstream lens manufacturers and lens brand owners; the downstream terminal consumer market includes retail channels such as eyewear retailers and hospital eyewear centers, which directly face consumers and provide professional services such as optometry, eyewear fitting, trial wearing experience, and repair. Resins can be divided into natural resins and synthetic resins. There are many types of resins, which are widely used in light and heavy industries and can often be seen in daily life, such as plastics, resin glasses, and coatings. Resin lenses are lenses formed by chemical synthesis and processing and polishing with resin as raw materials. In 2022, China's synthetic resin production reached 113.669 million tons, an increase of 1.5% over the previous year.
As consumers pursue quality of life and health, consumers have higher and higher requirements for the quality and functionality of eyeglass lenses, which also promotes the growth of global eyeglass lens industry retail sales. In 2023, the global eyeglass lens industry retail sales will be approximately US$50.1 billion, and will grow further in the future.
In recent years, my country's myopic population has continued to grow, consumers' demand for functional lenses and vision correction has continued to increase, and the frequency of glasses replacement has increased, and the demand for lenses has also continued to grow. In 2022, the scale of China's lens product retail market is about 34 billion yuan. Driven by the increase in the penetration rate of functional lenses and the innovative development of production technology, the overall lens retail market is expected to be stable and positive.
Overall, Chinese lens manufacturers are gradually adopting higher-end lens raw materials and actively developing thinner and lighter lens products with better optical performance to meet the different wearing needs of consumers. However, the sales volume of high-refractive index lens products is currently low, of which 1.71 refractive index lenses account for 0.1% and 1.74 refractive index lenses account for 0.3%.