150 million people put shared massage chairs on the market

Wen/zinc scale Li Xuanqi 

Shared massage chairs, a track that once gave up capital high hopes but was abandoned by capital. Everyone is not optimistic about it, but there is a company that wants to compete.

Recently, Lemo IoT, the parent company of the shared massage chair brand Lemo Bar, submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to the prospectus, Le Moba is the number one brand in the shared massage chair industry, with more than 320,000 massage chairs laid in cinemas. In the first nine months of 2024 alone, Lemo IoT achieved operating income of 614 million yuan and a net profit of 100 million yuan. It also paid dividends to shareholders of more than 40 million yuan before the IPO.

For a long time, when people mentioned sharing massage chairs, they always thought of their poor massage techniques: sudden knocking, pressing and even neck pinching; or their worrying hygiene conditions: dander, snack debris, drunk beverage bottles, etc. may be inadvertently left in the massage chair……

But whether they had to choose in the movie theater, or bowed their heads to exhaustion in business districts and stations, many people put Le Mo IoT on the road to listing. Consumers who want to lie flat will ultimately win?

Shared massage is about to come out for the first time

Although people are no strangers to shared massage chairs, before the news of the sprint launch came out, few people might know anything about the Le Moba brand, let alone the parent company behind it, Le Moi IoT.

Recently, Lemo IoT, the parent company of the shared massage chair brand Lemo Bar, submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, planning to list on the main board. CITIC Construction Investment International and Shenwan Hongyuan Hong Kong serve as joint sponsors.

According to enterprise investigations, Le Mo IoT was founded in 2014. In 2016, it officially launched the smart massage service business. It launched the well-known brand of shared massage chairs, Le Mo Bar. It adopts unmanned operation and lays smart chairs in airports, high-speed rail stations, hotels, cinemas, tourist attractions, Internet cafes and other scenarios. rdquo;

prospectus data

According to the prospectus, about 70% of Le Moba’s service outlets are directly operated by the company; the other 30% of the service outlets adopt the partner model, with the company providing equipment and technical support. The local partner is responsible for site selection, decoration and other branch operations. The two parties are divided according to the transaction amount.

Driven by the dual model, as of January 15, 2025, Le Moba has established more than 45,000 service outlets across the country and deployed more than 500,000 smart massage devices, covering 31 provincial administrative regions and 339 cities in the mainland of China. The cumulative number of identifiable services exceeds 150 million and the number of registered members exceeds 2.8 million.

It is worth mentioning that while the sharing economy cannot escape the problem of losses, Le Mo Bar has been making money all the way.

The prospectus shows that the company’s revenue in 2022 and 2023 will be 330 million yuan and 586 million yuan respectively. The revenue in the first nine months of 2024 will be 614 million yuan, which has exceeded the annual revenue scale of 2023. Net profit for the same period was 8.53 million yuan, 94.58 million yuan, and 100 million yuan respectively.

Among them, the direct sales model is the main source of income for Le Moba. In 2022, 2023 and the first nine months of 2024, operating income from the direct sales model accounted for 74.26%, 80.45% and 84.01% of the company’s total revenue. However, the gross profit margin of the partner model is much higher than that of direct sales. From January to September 2024, the gross profit margin of the company’s direct-sales model was 34.22%, and that of the partner model was as high as 74.44%.

Such a report card seems to give Lemo IoT a lot of confidence to go public, and it can’t help but make people wonder who is behind the scenes?

Enterprise investigation shows that legal representative Xie Zhonghui is the company’s largest shareholder, holding 21% of the shares, and Han Daohu holding 19.5%.

Picture source: Enterprise Chua

According to public information, Xie Zhonghui graduated from Jimei University majoring in mechanical manufacturing technology and equipment, and worked as sales director and general manager at Zhencai Stationery. In May 2011, he founded Shanghai Fujian Industrial Development Co., Ltd., focusing on the development and sales of massage chair products. In 2016, Xie Zhonghui and his friend Wu Jinghua negotiated to acquire 60% of the equity of Lemo IoT and became the controlling shareholder. In the same year, they launched the Lemo Bar brand. In the same year, Han Daohu acquired a 30% stake in the company from Xie Zhonghui for a consideration of 0 and became the co-founder of the company. Shanghai Jiugong Electromechanical, founded by Han Daohu as early as 1999, is one of the earliest companies in China to enter the massage chair industry. He has served as director of Rongjie Health, chairman of Shanghai Beikruobao Health Technology Co., Ltd. and director of Anhui Zhongsheng Traceability Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

It’s dirty and difficult to use, but there are still people lying there

The reason why shared massage chairs can be the first to come out is that they have been criticized for a long time.

When searching for shared massage chairs on social media, there are many related notes complaining about the hygiene problems of shared massage chairs. Among them, some netizens mentioned that sitting on public massage chairs is careful. It’s really hard to say if it’s dirty!” rdquo; He also said that he was suddenly allergic and developed hives on his legs due to sitting in a public massage chair.

Photo source: Xiaohongshu

There are also many notes that massage chairs in movie theaters are hard to prevent. Some netizens said that when buying tickets, there was no label saying it was a massage chair. They often arrived late and the movie had already started! Who would have thought that he would be attacked by a massage chair as soon as he sat down! I almost thought I was watching a horror movie, and someone was touching the back of my neck. This is not an exception. During the Spring Festival movie fire, many netizens complained that the experience of watching the 4D version of “Nezha 2” was full, with fights on the top screen, and the chair below. I spent 98 yuan watching a movie and was beaten by a chair for 20 minutes.”……

In fact, relevant news also appears frequently in newspapers. In 2023, a consumer once felt itchy after using a shared massage chair at Guangzhou South Railway Station. After getting up, he found that several insects on the massage chair were visible to the naked eye; the topic #A woman’s hair was rolled into the massage chair and called for help in pain #was also in the same year. It hit the hot search list.

Not only that, in the Black Cat Complaint Search Le Mo Bar, there were more than 900 related complaints, many of which pointed out that there were problems with the massage chair and it was difficult to refund the fee.

Since there are so many problems, who is still spending money on them?

According to public information, the regular charging standards for Le Moba massage chairs are divided into three levels: 6 yuan/6 minutes, 10 yuan/12 minutes, and 15 yuan/20 minutes. First-tier cities charge higher prices. For example, in a movie studio in Huangpu District, Shanghai City, the charging standard for Le Moba massage chairs is 13.8 yuan/15 minutes, 17.8 yuan/20 minutes, and 23.8 yuan/30 minutes. Another consumer mentioned that the shared massage chair in Le Mo Bar costs 30 yuan for 20 minutes.

Relevant data shows that as of the end of September 2024, Le Mo IoT has deployed approximately 402,100 massage equipment, with cinemas accounting for nearly 80%, but revenue accounting for only about 20%. Data from the “Prospectus” shows that during the reporting period, the revenue of Lemo IoT’s intelligent massage service in cinemas was 87.333 million yuan, 161 million yuan and 174 million yuan respectively, accounting for 15.72%, 17.66% and 19.28% respectively.

This means that more revenue may come from commercial complexes, airports and high-speed rail stations. In these places, there are indeed many consumers who bow their heads to shared massage chairs because of fatigue.

Photo source: Xiaohongshu

“Sometimes I am too tired and need to lie down and rest. Massage chairs really save lives.& rdquo;Ken has to travel by plane and bullet train all year round. For him, the waiting time at the airport and train station may be the only opportunity for him to rest. He is tired from traveling and traveling, and often has backache. He puts on headphones and lies in the massage chair to massage for 40 minutes. It is necessary, and most shared massage chairs can also charge his mobile phone for free. rdquo;

Zinc Scale noticed that on social media, high-speed rail stations and airports are indeed high-frequency consumption scenarios where massage chairs are shared. Many netizens mentioned that they will press it while waiting for the bus. It is tiring to relax. When you are very tired, the 8-minute massage chair at the high-speed rail station is really useful.“”“ rdquo;

However, this also varies according to the brand of massage chairs. Some shared massage chairs have poor massage effects, but they make the travelers who are eager to rest even more tired. It is completely torture, and they spend money to pay for it.

“You become the leader of your peers after you die?

Although the well-known shared massage chair operators on the market currently include major brands such as Le Moba, Momoda, Shuangke and Make Street, Le Moba is indeed the only one.

According to Frost Sullivan’s data, from 2021 to 2023, Le Moba ranked first among all intelligent massage service providers in the mainland of China in terms of transaction volume, with market shares of 29.4%, 33.9% and 37.3% respectively. The market share in 2023 will be twice that of the second place.

Photo source: Xiaohongshu

In fact, shared massage chairs were once the darling of capital. In 2017, the financing of the shared massage chair track reached 240 million yuan; in 2018, the track raised 260 million yuan.

According to Sky Eye data, the number of newly registered companies in the shared massage chair industry in 2017 was five times that of 2016, and by 2018, the total number had exceeded 1 million. From 2017 to 2018, capital hot money poured in rapidly, and many shared massage chair brands including Ao Jiahua, Le Moba, Yunxiangyun, and Qira received financing, which pushed the industry forward.

However, the limelight soon faded.

According to data from Great Wall Securities, the domestic massage chair head brand and the massage business of Rongkang Group, the parent company of Momoda, is divided into three categories: massage chairs, massage small appliances, and shared massage chairs. Among them, the revenue from shared massage chairs has dropped significantly, with the proportion dropping from 16.02% in 2018 to 2.32% in 2021. In 2021, revenue will be 60 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 18.61%. In terms of gross profit margin, it has dropped to-14% in 2021. Until 2023, Rongtai’s revenue has not improved.

Tuyuan 2023 Rongtai Health Semi-Annual Report

As a result, Rongkang Group realized the problems existing in the shared business format and gradually reduced its investment in the shared massage chair business.

Not only that, Wu Xiaogang, general manager of the shared massage chair brand Momoda, has also publicly stated that the shared massage chair has experienced large-scale expansion and has also encountered many operating difficulties. Other companies in the industry such as Gu Jiaju and Ao Jiahua have not disclosed data on their massage chairs for a long time.

Therefore, Le Mo Bar is now rushing to go public, on the one hand, because it has finally survived its peers and become a leader, and on the other hand, because it is also facing more specific development difficulties. After all, according to data from the Huajing Industrial Research Institute, the compound growth rate of the domestic smart massage chair market from 2018 to 2022 is only 9%.

This means that if Lemo Bar wants to continue to win, it may have to tell some new stories for capital.