“Just received the product and wanted to read the instructions, but the store is gone.” “It’s so sudden, who should I contact for after-sales service?”…
Recently, after experiencing a significant price drop controversy, the official flagship store of well-known home beauty device brand Tripollar on Tmall suddenly closed, leaving many consumers surprised. At the same time, the official WeChat public account of Tripollar quietly changed its name, and all related posts have been cleared. With the amplification of public opinion, rumors of Tripollar “running away” have spread.
As one of the earliest overseas radiofrequency beauty device brands to enter the Chinese market, Tripollar has become one of the pioneers in introducing radiofrequency beauty devices to Chinese consumers, thanks to its deep expertise in the field. For many years, it has been one of the leading players in the Chinese radiofrequency beauty device market.
So, is Tripollar’s unusual behavior this time really a case of “running away” as rumored, or is there another reason behind it? Currently, what is the operational status of Tripollar in the Chinese market?
Do not believe the rumors.” Tripollar denies rumors of running away
From a blank slate to gradual prosperity, in recent years, the development of the Chinese home radiofrequency beauty device market has been rapid, going through a historical process from being dominated by foreign brands to the rise of domestic brands. In this process, Tripollar has always been a crucial keyword.
According to public reports, Tripollar was founded in 2010, and its parent company, Pollogen, is an Israeli manufacturer with advanced technologies such as TriPollar®, TriLipo®, TriFractional™, and others. They were one of the early adopters of radiofrequency technology in the field of home beauty devices.
Turning back the clock to 2012, Tripollar officially entered the Chinese market after venturing from Israel, becoming the first imported high-end radiofrequency beauty device brand to enter the Chinese market at that time.
In 2014, Tripollar opened its flagship store on Tmall, marking a new milestone in its development in the Chinese market. The following year, Tripollar’s revenue exceeded 300 million yuan. In the same year, Tripollar reached an important turning point in its brand history when its parent company, Pollogen, was acquired by Lumenis, a global leader in medical laser equipment. With the technological and financial support from Lumenis, Tripollar’s development in the Chinese market became more stable.
The highlight for Tripollar came in 2020 when its beauty devices were featured in Li Jiaqi’s pre-sale livestream for Singles’ Day, generating over a hundred million yuan in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) and becoming one of the twelve products in the beauty livestream industry to achieve over a hundred million yuan in just one hour. According to public reports, Tripollar’s sales in the Chinese market in 2020 reached approximately 1 billion yuan.
However, the good times didn’t last long. In March 2022, the National Medical Products Administration issued a notice stating that starting from April 1, 2024, radiofrequency treatment devices and radiofrequency skin treatment devices would be included in the management of Class III medical devices. This significantly raised the market entry threshold for radiofrequency beauty devices and posed a great challenge for foreign brands like Tripollar.
Last year, Tripollar beauty devices experienced a significant price drop, with devices that used to cost thousands of yuan now being sold for only a few hundred yuan, which led to collective complaints from consumers.
While consumers expressed dissatisfaction with the significant price reduction of Tripollar beauty devices, CHAILEEDO also noticed that in recent days, several Tripollar official stores, including the Tmall flagship store and the JD.com self-operated flagship store, have suddenly “disappeared” or no longer have products for sale. The remaining official stores only have a few products available. In particular, the flagship product of Tripollar, the GOLD Radiofrequency Beauty Device, is marked as “near expiration special sale.”
Furthermore, all the posts on Tripollar’s official WeChat public account have been cleared recently, and the account’s description has been updated to “brand public account under upgrade,” while the name verification has changed from “Tripollar” to “NiceTop.”
These various abnormal signs from Tripollar have attracted widespread attention from netizens, and discussions about Tripollar “running away” have been gradually intensifying on major social media platforms. Many consumers have expressed concerns about after-sales service, asking, “Who should we contact if there are problems with the product?” and stating, “This is too sudden, I didn’t expect it to happen this way.”
In response to this, CHAILEEDO immediately reached out to Tripollar’s official store for verification. Regarding the situation where only a few products are available in the official store, the customer service of Tripollar’s Douyin flagship store replied to CHAILEEDO, “They are temporarily out of stock.” As for the claims of Tripollar “running away,” the customer service mentioned above denied them, stating, “Do not believe the rumors.”
TriPollar’s distributor imprisoned for posting “negative posts”
It’s worth mentioning that during the more than ten years of deep cultivation in the Chinese market, TriPollar has faced public scrutiny multiple times due to false advertising and incidents involving the purchase of “internet water armies.”
For example, in 2020, after achieving good results in Li Jiaqi’s live-streaming room, TriPollar was accused of false advertising “FDA certification.” Although they initially denied the allegations, shortly afterward, TriPollar stated to the media that it was a translation error, saying, “The documents we received from the Israeli manufacturer mentioned that their multiple products have obtained approval from the US FDA… Due to the translation issue, we briefly described it as ‘FDA technical certification’.” They also apologized to Li Jiaqi.
Two years later, due to safety hazards involving skin burns from their products, TriPollar distributor Xinjishi (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. announced a recall of over 180,000 units of the Stop Eye home radiofrequency beauty device. This was one of the few large-scale beauty device recalls.
In addition, as a strong competitor to TriPollar, YAMAN has had some unpleasant “history” between them. According to public reports, TriPollar’s former Chinese distributor, Nanjing Xiaojingsha Information Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Xiaojingsha”), was convicted of damaging the reputation of goods for organizing its employees to write negative comments about YAMAN beauty devices. The legal representative of Xiaojingsha, Chen, and the vice general manager, Zhou, were sentenced to 7 months’ imprisonment for the crime of damaging the reputation of goods and fined 10,000 yuan.
In fact, industry insiders believe that the sudden closure of TriPollar is not unexpected. Previously, industry insiders openly admitted to the media, “As the implementation date of the new regulations approaches, it is very likely that TriPollar will withdraw from the radiofrequency beauty device track in the Chinese market.”
In fact, industry insiders believe that the sudden closure of TriPollar is not unexpected. Previously, industry insiders openly admitted to the media, “As the implementation date of the new regulations approaches, it is very likely that TriPollar will withdraw from the radiofrequency beauty device track in the Chinese market.”
At the same time, a query by CHAILEEDO on the National Science and Technology Department’s government service platform revealed no records of clinical trials related to TriPollar. Conducting clinical trial records for Class III medical device registration is a necessary step for beauty device brands to obtain a Class III medical device operation license. This also suggests that TriPollar may not have started the process of filing for Class III medical device certification.
Many industry insiders have expressed that including home radiofrequency beauty products in the third category of medical devices for regulation is a significant challenge for companies. The entire process of applying for Class III medical device certification takes at least 3.5 years and requires millions to tens of millions of funds. For production companies with no experience in this area, it is undoubtedly extremely difficult.
FLOSSOM co-founder Shen Xun recently mentioned in a media interview, “It’s quite troublesome for imported beauty device brands to obtain certification in the Chinese market. Due to concerns about collecting genetic data from Chinese people, foreign brands need to file with the Chinese Human Genetic Resources Administration Office. So foreign brands may not necessarily choose this path.”
A beauty device distributor told CHAILEEDO, “The new regulations in April specifically target radiofrequency beauty devices, and Tripollar products’ main technological feature is radiofrequency, so this undoubtedly hits the nail on the head. Additionally, obtaining Class III medical device certification takes a long time, and Tripollar may not be able to wait, so they can only have a clearance sale and end their operations.”
Some industry insiders claim that Tripollar’s contracts with domestic distributors are about to expire, which may also be an important reason why they haven’t filed for Class III medical device certification. Regarding this statement, distributors of Tripollar, FLOSSOM, and other beauty device brands expressed their agreement, stating, “There’s hardly any stock left for Tripollar beauty devices (in the distribution channels).”
Regarding the claim about the expiration of contracts with domestic distributors, CHAILEEDO immediately sought confirmation from the Tripollar brand and its parent company, Pollogen. As of the time of writing, Tripollar has not yet replied, and the customer service of Tripollar’s Tmall flagship store told CHAILEEDO, “We haven’t received any notification.”
Before April, it may be difficult to obtain certification. Beauty device brands need to endure the winter.
It is worth mentioning that as the April 1st deadline approaches, the certification progress of major beauty device brands has attracted considerable market attention. CHAILEEDO’s public search found that there are currently five beauty device brands openly stating that they are undergoing Class III medical device registration, including YAMAN, FLOSSOM, AMIRO, OGP, and MARYFAIRY.
Among them, CHAILEEDO found clinical trial registration information for YAMAN, FLOSSOM, AMIRO, OGP, and other four beauty device brands from the National Science and Technology Department’s government service platform.
In addition, the Chinese beauty device brand MARYFAIRY publicly stated in July last year that it completed clinical trial registration with the Guangdong Provincial Drug Administration in 2023, becoming one of the first home beauty device brands to conduct multi-center radiofrequency beauty device clinical trials.
Regarding the certification progress of the brands, the customer service of OGP’s Tmall flagship store told CHAILEEDO, “We are in the final review stage,” and stated that they will receive the Class III medical device qualification certificate after approval.
The customer service of YAMAN’s Tmall flagship store told CHAILEEDO that “YAMAN has been selected for the first batch of clinical trial lists by the National Medical Products Administration. It is also one of the first home beauty device brands to pass the Class III medical device registration clinical trial. The application work is currently progressing steadily.”
It is worth noting that most of the above-mentioned companies completed their clinical trial registrations around March 2023. This means that there is only one year left until the April 1st deadline in 2024, which is undoubtedly a tight timeline for most beauty device brands.
For example, a beauty device technology company that conducted clinical trial registration in March last year is facing the challenge of not being able to obtain the registration certificate before April. Wang Qi, the marketing director of the company, told the media that they had just received the clinical evaluation report, but to obtain the registration certificate, the company still needs to prepare for the quality management system inspection before submitting the registration application. This involves a 90-day technical evaluation, which means it is difficult to obtain certification before April 1st. “The entire industry is progressing at about the same pace, and everyone is very worried.”
In response, several responsible persons from home beauty device companies recently stated, “The possibility of obtaining certification before April 1st is not high.” This also means that related beauty device companies may face the dilemma of being unable to continue selling radiofrequency beauty devices.
Shen Xun also publicly stated, “FLOSSOM may not be able to sell radiofrequency beauty devices for several months.”
“When formulating policies, the industry’s specificity should be considered. If major companies cannot obtain certification as scheduled, it is necessary to appropriately extend the transition period,” said Su Jing, Secretary-General of the Global Development and Health Communication Center at Tsinghua University, to the media.
As for beauty device brands that have not obtained approval in April, how will they handle their radiofrequency beauty device products? In response to this, the customer service of OGP’s Tmall flagship store told CHAILEEDO, “If the approval is delayed in April, the products will be taken off the shelves first, and they will be relisted after approval. If the approval comes in April, they will be sold as usual.”
Regarding the beauty device market after the new regulations, Shen Xun stated in a recent media interview, “In the future, radiofrequency beauty devices will become more focused in terms of functionality, and channel costs will increase. The possibility of reducing the prices of radiofrequency beauty devices is not significant.”
