Just Slip It on Your Finger... 'World No. 1' Enters South Korea

[Anchor]

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

Reporter Choi Seung-hun has the story.

[Reporter]

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary ring, but various sensors are attached to the inside.

This is the Oura Ring Gen 5, a smart ring introduced to the South Korean market 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 to bed last night (the 17th).

The application informs me that my sleep time was 5 hours and 42 minutes, and my sleep score is 74.

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

Even though smartwatches are already widely distributed to the extent that 1 out of 3 South Korean adults uses one, Oura expects sufficient demand for users to wear smart rings alongside smartwatches due to the smart ring's unique advantages.

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

The high price is a barrier to entry.

With retail prices starting at 630,000 won (approx. 470 USD), users also have to pay a monthly membership fee of 9,400 won (approx. 7 USD) to view customized health information.

Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Ring, which was released in the domestic market earlier, 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 with 74% last year, followed by Samsung and India's Ultrahuman with 9% each.

As Samsung has commenced the development of follow-up products, competition between companies is intensifying.

Amid disputes over 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 worldwide 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 become even fiercer.

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