Global smart ring competition begins in earnest
Oura dominated the market early
Chinese companies have an advantage in ultra-low prices and batteries
Samsung Electronics, praised for its convenience and usability
Oura Smart Ring Oura Ring 4. Photo = Provided by Oura Major global countries are accelerating to dominate the smart ring market. Samsung Electronicsintroduced the Galaxy Ring to compete with Finland’s Oura, nicknamed the ‘original absolute ring’, and India’s Ultrahuman launched a product with advanced functions but lower prices. Chinese companies are attracting attention not only with their ultra-low price strategy, but also with their competitiveness with products that significantly extend battery life, which was considered a challenge in the smart ring market.
Oura takes the lead in smart rings… “Superior than competitors”
According to Business Research Insight on the 21st, the smart ring market is expected to grow from $20 million (about 27.3 billion won) last year to $250 million in 2032. Major global companies are also releasing competitive products in line with the growth of smart rings.
Oura, which has proven its product competitiveness, unveiled its new product, Oura Ring 4, on the 3rd. Oura products are consistently mentioned among wellness influencers as useful devices through social networking services (SNS) such as TikTok.
‘The Verge’, an American information technology (IT) media outlet, said, “Oura has ranked first in the smart ring field for the past 10 years,” and added, “This year, due to the ‘smart ring renaissance,’ competitors have just entered this field or have entered the field for the second time.” “We are releasing a version, and (Oura) is the fourth ring,” he explained. He added, “Technically speaking, Oura is superior to its competitors.”
Oura Ring 4 is sold starting at $349. By introducing a smart sensing algorithm, health status is accurately detected regardless of finger size. However, a disadvantage is that you have to pay a monthly subscription fee to use all services.
India and China strengthen price competitiveness… Products priced around 10,000 won
Indian companies are adopting a strategy of drastically lowering prices while upgrading performance.
Ultrahuman introduced the smart ring ‘Ring Air’ last July when Samsung Electronics introduced the Galaxy Ring. Ring Air has the function of detecting heart disease and vitamin D and caffeine intake. In particular, the ability to identify atrial fibrillation disease in advance is attracting attention. Although the performance has been improved, the selling price is $349, which is similar to Oura products.
India Boat also unveiled the ‘Smart Ring Active 2nd Generation’ in the same month. This product boasts the ability to precisely measure heart rate, sleep, and stress even though it costs only 2,999 rupees (about 49,000 won). The selling price was also lowered by about 100,000 won compared to the previous model.
Chinese companies are betting on an ultra-low price strategy. China’s Call Me Tech launched ‘R06′ at 299 yuan (about 57,000 won) last June, but recently lowered the selling price to 100 yuan (about 19,000 won). You can purchase 26 of these products with the money you spend on Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Ring, which is sold for 499,400 won.
Xiaomi subsidiary Black Shark is taking the lead in competitiveness with products that solve the battery life issue, a major challenge in the smart ring market. Business Research Insight pointed out, “One of the major challenges facing the smart ring market is limited battery life,” and added, “Smart rings are small in size and have limited battery capacity, which is a major disadvantage for consumers who want to use them for a long time.”
However, the ‘Black Shark Ring’ released by Black Shark last April can be used for 180 days on a single charge. The selling price is 599 yuan, which is considered relatively cheap.
Call Me Tech Smart Ring R06. Photo = Provided by Call Me Tech
Galaxy Ring usability was well received… Product review ‘Best’ 66%
Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Ring is receiving positive reviews from users even though it lacks the blood pressure and blood sugar measurement functions that were originally expected. The situation is receiving positive response due to its convenient usability. Samsung.com Galaxy Ring product reviews were mainly positive, saying that the performance was good and the design was attractive.
On the other hand, Apple’s entry into the smart ring market is uncertain. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Apple has decided not to release a smart ring. It is said that this was based on an internal judgment that Apple Watch sales may fall due to overlapping demand for smart rings.
Smart ring annual average 29%↑… “We need to discover killer services”
The smart ring market is expected to grow in line with the level of advancement in health management functions. Business Research Insights predicted, “Increasing adoption of wearable technology and increasing demand for health monitoring devices are the driving forces of the smart ring market,” and predicted, “The smart ring market will grow at an average annual rate of 28.9% from this year to 2032.”
It is argued that in order to gain an edge in the smart ring market, a ‘killer service’ must be discovered.
Through its ‘ICT Brief’, the Korea IT Planning and Evaluation Institute said, “Efforts must be made to secure trust, including not only connectivity and convenience, but also accuracy,” and added, “The blood flow through the fingers is weaker than the wrist, so information accuracy may be reduced, and the fingers have more movement than the wrist. “There is a need to develop complementary technologies to resolve the possibility of errors occurring in motion recognition,” he ordered.
He emphasized, “As habits for tracking health data have already been formed to some extent due to the popularization of smart watches and smart bands, we need to discover a killer service that can differentiate it from existing devices.”
Kim Dae-young, Hankyung.com reporter kdy@hankyung.com
