K-Beauty Targeting Global Market with Beauty Devices

Export value up 40% year-on-year
Medical tourism and homecare demand also play a role.

Following Korean-made basic skin make-up products, cosmetic devices (beauty devices) are emerging as the growth engine of the next-generation K-beauty industry. Beauty devices are more than mere gadgets now and their technological capability to help cosmetics be absorbed deep into the skin becomes increasingly important. As APR, the leading company in the domestic beauty device market, expands into over 70 countries including the USA, the U.K., and Japan, taking APR as a reference, an increasing number of companies are accelerating their entry into overseas beauty device markets.

According to the cosmetics industry and the Korea Customs Service, as domestic beauty device companies begin to expand into overseas markets in full-scale, exports of home beauty devices from January to May this year reached USD 86,128,000 (approximately KRW 132 billion), a 40.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
The fact that dermatological procedures have become a representative tourist destination for foreign visitors to Korea is also contributing to the popularity of K-beauty devices. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, as of May this year, the amount of money spent by foreigners on their dermatological medical tourism reached KRW 145.2 billion, an 85.5% increase compared to the same period last year.
APR’s ‘Medicube AGE-R’ maintains its leading position in the domestic beauty device market. By offering more choices for consumers by diversifying the price range from KRW 100,000 to KRW 500,000 and conducting aggressive marketing, sales of beauty devices in the first quarter of this year increased by 46% compared to the same period last year.
At Home’s THOME, launched in 2024, is also rapidly expanding its presence. Last year, THOME’s sales grew by approximately 133% compared to 2024.
Amorepacific is also making efforts to expand its beauty device business. Sales of its beauty device brand, Makeon, increased by 163% last year compared to the previous year. Makeon is currently being sold online in Japan and is also pursuing the expansion of its offline distribution network.
LG Household & Health Care started to invade the market last June by acquiring the business rights to the beauty device brand LG Prael from LG Electronics. This decision was made based on the assessment that beauty devices are a future growth engine.

Korean-Products.com | Blog Magazine of Korean products, brands and Goods