Bodyfriend, Leading Global Massage Chair Market Share for 4 Years, Surpassing Japan

Frost & Sullivan Survey Shows 7.5% Market Share, Ranking 1st
CEO Park Sang-hyun: "We Will Leap Forward as a Digital Healthcare Robot Company"

Bodyfriend recorded a 7.5% market share in the global massage chair market based on sales in the first half of last year, ranking first. Photo by Bodyfriend

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Bodyfriend has maintained its position as the number one in the global massage chair market for four consecutive years.

According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan on the 15th, Bodyfriend recorded a 7.5% market share in the global massage chair market based on sales in the first half of last year, ranking first. Since first achieving the top spot in the global massage chair market in 2017, it has held the position for four years. Following were Japan's Panasonic and Inada Family, ranking second and third respectively.

At the time of Bodyfriend's founding in 2007, the massage chair market was dominated entirely by Japanese brands. However, the company explained that by boldly investing in technology development, including 65.6 billion KRW in research and development costs over the past five years, and pursuing design innovation, it was able to surpass Japanese brands and become the industry leader.

Its status in overseas markets is also rising. Despite a significant period of store closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, Bodyfriend's overseas sales grew by 20% compared to the previous year. In particular, the initial stock of massage chairs sold out during a home shopping broadcast on the local Canadian Ultiv channel.

Bodyfriend currently operates overseas directly managed showrooms in five locations in Los Angeles, USA; three in Shanghai, China; one in Paris, France; and one in Milan, Italy. Additionally, it operates two stores in Vietnam as well as stores in Australia and New Zealand.

Park Sanghyun, CEO of Bodyfriend, stated, “We plan to devote ourselves to research and development to not only remain number one in the global massage chair market but also to innovate the market itself and transform into a digital healthcare robot company through artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and cloud technology.” He added, “Following an investment of 65.6 billion KRW in research and development over the past five years, we will continue to invest more than 20 billion KRW annually to achieve a 10-year extension of human healthy lifespan.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.