It was a pioneer in 2016, it is a leader in 2024, in a few years, Oura Ring has taken the lion’s share and is now emulated.
Behind the leader in connected rings, a string of competitors is trying to pick up the crumbs of a market ofEarly Adopters in full growth.
Around Oura revolves a whole series of competitors, each more inventive than the last: Ultrahuman Air, Movano Evie Ring, RingConn, Boat, McLean, Noise, Token Ring and Circular Ring Slim. All in a niche market but dynamic enough to attract the attention of Samsung, which announced the upcoming release of its Galaxy Ring specializing in sleep aids. The rise of Oura also attracted the attention of Honor, which also announced the launch of its connected ring. The recent incursion of the Korean and Chinese giants therefore suggests an extension of the market for connected rings to that of Smart Homes.
It must be said that the Oura Ring, launched 8 years ago through a Kickstarter campaign, has built a comfortable lead to the point of putting its most precious data: HRV (heart rate variability), stress level, temperature body, blood oxygen level and heart rate behind a Firewall and a premium subscription of 5.99 Euros per month.
The company also displays strong R&D power with 100 granted patents, 270 pending applications and more than 130 registered trademarks. It also has a market share of 62% compared to 51% three years ago, not hesitating to launch into E-commerce with Best Buy and more recently, Amazon in the United States. To date, the models available on the site range between 399 Euros for the Silver version and 599 Euros for the “Golden Pink” version.
The company also attempted to preempt competition from the fashion and luxury worlds with distinctive materials and prints. In 2022, it marketed an 18-carat version of Oura X Gucci at $950.
More than a million Oura rings have been sold to date, according to the company. The Finnish company founded in 2013 by Markku Koskela and Petteri Lahtela, which has raised more than $148 million in total, has today reached a valuation of $2.55 billion. A figure which can, however, give pause because the market, which shows growth of 25.32% per year but is not expected to exceed 1.4 billion dollars in 2032…
Furthermore, competition is advancing and diversifying. Thus the RingPay functionality of its competitor Mc Lean, like that of K Ring from Kwearables, offers both the possibility of NFC payment and the automatic unlocking of automated terminals. NFC technology appears to have a slight advantage over Bluetooth due to battery longevity.
And Apple in all this? The Apple company, which has long joked about the size of the connected ring market, has a ring with NFC functionality in its pipeline.
But the surprise could also come from the outsider Ultrahuman, an Indian distributing his ring in specialized circuits (airports and jewelry chains, specialized stores). The profitable company, which already generates more than 100 million in annual revenue, aims according to its CEO, Mohit Kumar, to become number 1 within 12 to 15 months. Unless the real challenger is another Korean: V touch with its Wizpr ring augmented with AI or even a more daring competitor comes to take over from ORII and its launched call and voice assistant function without success a few years ago.
At this point, the Lord of the Rings is not yet sure of his stronghold.
Credit Image Oura
