Seers, long the dominant player in South Korea's wearable electrocardiogram market, is losing its grip as rivals close in. Huinno has effectively taken the lead at tertiary general hospitals, while Mezoo has doubled its revenue through a partnership with Dong-A ST. Analysts say Seers' low-margin strategy for expanding its market reach is running up against competitors' aggressive marketing push.
Seers' share of the wearable ECG market, once as high as 65% to 70%, has declined steadily this year, industry sources said on the 13th. They attribute the erosion to rising supply from later entrants and a wider range of choices for medical institutions.
The clearest shift is at tertiary general hospitals. The industry believes Huinno's share of that segment has risen markedly over the past year, putting it effectively in first place. Some expect its share to approach 50% by year-end. Seers retains an overwhelming lead in the overall market, but at tertiary general hospitals a rival is now pulling ahead.
Another factor is product mix. Seers has focused on diagnostic devices with short monitoring periods, while demand at tertiary general hospitals is shifting toward monitoring lasting seven to 14 days. If a device fails to capture a patient's arrhythmia adequately, additional testing becomes unavoidable, which can prompt hospitals to switch products.
Mezoo's rapid growth is another concern. The company posted second-quarter revenue of 5.668 billion won, up 104.2% from a year earlier. Revenue rose 45% from the previous quarter, a record quarterly high. First-half revenue totaled 9.577 billion won, up 215.7% from the same period last year.
Seers' relatively low supply prices are also seen as a drag on profitability. The company has rapidly increased the number of hospital beds using its devices, but revenue may not expand in line with the share it has secured. Low-priced supply reduces the cost of adoption for hospitals and helps widen the market, but it can shrink the revenue a supplier earns per test.
"My understanding is that Seers' actual ECG-related revenue is on par with that of companies holding a far smaller share," an industry official said. "Seers enjoyed first-mover advantages last year, but from this year rivals have launched aggressive marketing, and tertiary hospitals are feeling the need for long-term ECG monitoring and looking for new alternatives."