Johnson Health Promotes New Massage Chairs Worldwide

Taipei, July 1, 2008 (CENS)--Johnson Health Tech Co., Taiwan-based and world- leading manufacturer of fitness and gym equipment, launched late last month its newly developed massage chairs in Europe, with debuts to follow in Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia early July, as well as North America in the third quarter of this year.

K.C. Lo, company chairman, disclosed that the R&D center for the chairs is in Japan while manufacturing is in China. Currently the global market value of massage chairs is about NT$60 billion (US$1.94 billion at US$1 = NT$31) per year, which is estimated to rise annually 2%-3%; and Japan is the largest market for such chairs.

Johnson Health's massage chairs are CE certified, so are legally marketable in Europe, firstly in Germany, Italy, France, U.K. and Spain.

In addition, the chairs are ISO13458 certified in Japan, with a special medical certificate pending for distribution there. Lo said that the massage chairs will be promoted in Japan as soon as such medical certificate is granted, likely as early as the fourth quarter of the year. If all goes well, Johnson will become the first foreign massage chair supplier in Japan.

The massage chairs currently promoted by Johnson Health are of mid- and high-tier, while it is planning to develop top-end models to serve upscale consumers. Lo noted that such top-end massage chairs would be debuted as early as the end of this year, with projected prices to be around NT$160,000-200,000 (US$5,161-6,451), almost equaling Japan's top-brand counterparts.

In addition to in-house development, Johnson is also the agent for Japan's leading massage chair brands, namely, Panasonic and Sanyo, which the company sells through its global marketing channels.

Taking advantage of lower manufacturing cost in China, Johnson is quite optimistic about the future of its massage chairs worldwide, with predicted revenues from such chairs to likely account for 30%-40% of total corporate turnover within five years.