Ceragem vs Bodyfriend R&D Competition Heats Up... 'K-Massage' Rivals Clash at CES

Ceragem Opens Integrated R&D Center in Pangyo Last Month
Bodyfriend Participates in CES for 8th Consecutive Year This Year

Seragem and Bodyfriend, competing for the top 1-2 sales positions in the domestic healthcare massage appliance industry, are engaged in fierce research and development (R&D) competition. Bodyfriend and Seragem, ranked number one in the massage chair and bed-type massage device markets respectively, have expanded their R&D investments despite the market contraction caused by the economic downturn. The first stage for this year’s R&D competition between the two companies is the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition, ‘CES 2024,’ held in Las Vegas, USA, on the 9th.

'Phantom Neo' by Bodyfriend (left) and 'Master Medical Bed' by Ceragem, exhibited at 'CES 2024' held in Las Vegas, USA, starting from the 9th.
[Photo by Bodyfriend, Ceragem]

Seragem announced on the 4th that it will showcase its next-generation spinal medical device, which embodies its R&D achievements to date, at ‘CES 2024.’ This is Seragem’s first time participating in CES. The ‘Master Medical Bed’ presented at CES is a product that can modularly incorporate various medical devices. It can be used for remote medical services through usage history and various sensors.

Seragem has continuously increased its investment in new product R&D. Starting with an investment of 15 billion KRW in technology research, clinical studies, design, and open innovation in 2021, Seragem invested 24 billion KRW in R&D in 2022. It plans to invest 70 billion KRW over the past two years and this year combined.

To support this, last month, Seragem opened an integrated R&D center called ‘Healthcare InnoTown’ in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. It consolidated research organizations that were previously dispersed across the Pangyo R&D center and Seoul Town into one location. This integrated research institute houses more than 100 employees, including those in the Design Innovation Center responsible for design research and ‘Clinical,’ a specialized clinical and medical science research institution. A Seragem official explained, “InnoTown will serve as a core hub for all R&D areas including advanced technology research, product development, medical science, and design. By bringing physically separated research teams closer together, we expect increased synergy in many aspects such as idea generation.”

The Ceragem Integrated R&D Center 'Healthcare Inno Town,' which opened on the 21st of last month in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province [Photo provided by Ceragem]

Bodyfriend has also focused on technological growth by increasing its R&D proportion annually. From 2018 to 2022, it invested a total of 100 billion KRW over five years. In the third quarter of last year, accumulated R&D expenses amounted to 16.1 billion KRW, representing 5.2% of sales. Medical-based R&D is also considered a distinctive competitive advantage for Bodyfriend. Led by its affiliated research institute, the ‘Healthcare Medical R&D Center,’ the company created a new vision called ‘Healthcare Robot.’ Products in the healthcare robot category introduced in the past two years, such as Phantom Robo, Pharaoh Robo, Falcon, and Quantum, account for 32% of Bodyfriend’s total sales.

Participating in CES for the eighth consecutive year, Bodyfriend plans to unveil its comprehensive healthcare robot, ‘Phantom Neo,’ for the first time at CES. This product maximizes healthcare functions by combining the advantages of its predecessor, the Medical Phantom, and the Robo product line. As of November 30 last year, the company had registered a total of 764 domestic and international patents and utility models. A Bodyfriend official stated, “Despite the challenging external environment where home appliance market sales sharply declined due to the economic downturn last year, we did not reduce R&D expenses. Going forward, we will actively invest in R&D centered on the Healthcare Medical R&D Center, develop new technologies, and apply them to massage chairs to launch innovative products.”

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