经济学人双语精读：全球最大的眼镜制造商希望变身科技公司

2024年6月15日 文摘

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Through the looking glass
镜中缘

The world’s biggest maker of spectacles wants to be a tech firm
全球最大的眼镜制造商希望变身科技公司

It is experimenting with smart glasses and built-in hearing aids
它正在研发智能眼镜和内置助听器的眼镜

OVER THE course of six decades Leonardo Del Vecchio, an Italian entrepreneur who died in 2022, built Luxottica into the world’s largest maker of spectacles and sunglasses. In 2018 he merged his firm with Essilor, a French lens manufacturer, to create a Franco-Italian corporate giant that is today worth over $90bn and employs some 200,000 people. The group owns iconic eyewear labels from Ray-Ban to Oliver Peoples, and also produces glasses using the brands of European luxury houses such as Armani and Chanel. On February 14th the company reported that its sales grew by 7% last year, at constant exchange rates, faster than at many other luxury businesses.
二〇二二年去世的意大利企业家莱昂纳多·德尔维奇奥（Leonardo Del Vecchio）生前用了60年的时间将陆逊梯卡（Luxottica）打造成全球最大的光学眼镜和太阳镜制造商。2018年，他将陆逊梯卡与法国镜片制造商依视路合并，创建了一家法意企业巨头。如今，这家名为依视路陆逊梯卡（EssilorLuxottica）的集团价值超过900亿美元，雇有约20万名员工。它旗下不仅拥有雷朋、奥利弗-皮珀兹（Oliver Peoples）等一些知名眼镜品牌，还为阿玛尼、香奈儿等欧洲奢侈品牌生产眼镜。2月14日，依视路陆逊梯卡公告称，其去年的销售额（按固定汇率计算）增长了7%，增速超过许多其他奢侈品企业。

Now Francesco Milleri, a close confidant of Mr Del Vecchio’s who was appointed chief executive of Luxottica in 2017 and of the combined group in 2020, is looking for the company’s next act. He has two big ideas. First is to become the leader in smart glasses. The ambition is not entirely new: the firm partnered with Google, a tech giant, on its Google Glass—an unambiguous flop thanks in part to its clunky interface and dorky design. The device was discontinued in 2015.
如今，德尔维奇奥生前的密友弗朗西斯科·米勒里（Francesco Milleri）正在谋划这家公司的下一步发展。米勒里于2017年和2020年先后被任命为陆逊梯卡和依视路陆逊梯卡的CEO。他有两个宏伟计划。第一是成为智能眼镜的领军者。这一雄心并非前所未有：陆逊梯卡曾与科技巨头谷歌合作开发谷歌眼镜，但以完全失败告终——难用的操作界面和不够自然的外观设计都是其槽点。谷歌眼镜于2015年停售。