Smart Rings Gain Traction as Global No. 1 Enters South Korean Market

[Anchor]

The market for smart rings worn on the finger is growing rapidly. A single ring allows users to measure and manage biometric information in real time, such as heart rate and sleep patterns. As the world's top company officially enters South Korea, it is set to compete with domestic firms.

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.

[Reporter]

At a glance, it looks like an ordinary ring, but various sensors are attached to the inside.

This is the Oura Ring 5, a smart ring introduced in South Korea for the first time by Finnish company Oura.

It measures heart rate and blood oxygen saturation to analyze stress and recovery status.

I wore this smart ring while sleeping last night (August 17).

The application informs me that my sleep time was 5 hours and 42 minutes, with a sleep score of 74 points.

While smartwatches are comprehensive wearable devices equipped with GPS and call functions, screenless smart rings are specialized for intensively and continuously measuring only health information, and are evaluated as more comfortable to wear while sleeping.

Even though smartwatches are already widely distributed to the extent that one in three South Korean adults uses one, Oura expects sufficient demand for users wanting to wear a smart ring alongside their smartwatch due to the ring's unique advantages.

[Brian Lynch / Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Oura: We view smart rings and smartwatches as very complementary to each other. They work very well when used together.]

The high price is an entry barrier.

With retail prices starting at 600,000 won and a monthly membership fee of 9,400 won required to view personalized health insights, costs add up.

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Ring, which was launched earlier in the domestic market, is priced in the 490,000 won range and provides key health information without a separate subscription fee.

Oura leads in global market share.

Oura was the overwhelming leader at 74% last year, followed by Samsung and India's Ultrahuman at 9% each.

As Samsung has begun developing follow-up products, competition between companies is also intensifying.

Regarding how batteries and sensors are arranged inside the rings, both companies have accused each other of patent infringement and requested sales bans in the United States.

With global smart ring shipments projected to increase from 6 million units this year to 15 million units by 2030, competition for market dominance is expected to heat up further.

(Video Input: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing: Lee Hong-myung | Design: Cho Soo-in)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.