J&J medical device business grows in tandem

Medical business re-enters KRW 300 billion range…confirmed performance rebound

Vision business centered on ophthalmology and lenses…stable revenue growth

Increasing cost burden…profitability management emerges as a challenge

The two companies leading Johnson & Johnson Korea’s medical device business solidified their foothold in the domestic market last year by driving revenue growth.

While Johnson & Johnson Medical Korea (J&J Medical) rebounded from negative growth in 2024, Johnson & Johnson Vision Korea (J&J Vision) reaffirmed its robust sales growth trend.

‘Medical’ achieves v-shaped rebound… ‘Vision’ shows steady upward trend

First, looking at J&J Medical’s revenue, sales have fluctuated over the past four years.

Revenue, which stood at KRW 280.1 billion in 2022, rose to KRW 301.1 billion in 2023, surpassing the KRW 300 billion mark. However, in 2024, amid changes in the market environment and a temporary adjustment period, revenue fell to KRW 269.8 billion, down about 10.3% year on year.

But last year, the Medical division successfully achieved a V-shaped rebound, recording revenue of KRW 301.6 billion, up about 11.7% from the previous year.

Operating profit, which had fallen to KRW 13.4 billion in 2024, also showed a clear recovery in 2025, reaching KRW 17.1 billion, indicating improved profitability.

By contrast, J&J Vision, established following the spin-off from Johnson & Johnson Korea, continued its upward sales trend and expanded its scale.

After posting revenue of about KRW 26.5 billion in 2022, its first year following the business split, which reflected only three months of operations, J&J Vision recorded about KRW 156.5 billion in revenue in the full fiscal year of 2023. It then posted KRW 168.2 billion in 2024 and KRW 176.3 billion in 2025, maintaining stable growth each year.

However, for J&J, the increasing burden of cost of goods sold has remained a drawback, as it reduced the quality of profitability despite top-line expansion.

Cost of sales, which stood at KRW 81.9 billion in 2024, increased to KRW 110.6 billion in 2025, expanding the cost burden. This appears to have weighed on profitability despite revenue growth.

J&J Vision’s SG&A expenses in 2025 were KRW 56.9 billion, down KRW 21 billion from KRW 77.9 billion the previous year. The largest decreases came from advertising and promotion expenses. Advertising expenses fell by KRW 2.2 billion, from KRW 7.9 billion in 2024 to KRW 5.7 billion in 2025, while promotion expenses fell by KRW 28.6 billion, from KRW 45.1 billion in 2024 to KRW 26.5 billion in 2025.

Medical expands high-value treatment equipment…targets hospital market

J&J Medical’s return to sales in the KRW 300 billion range is interpreted as the result of new product launches combined with infrastructure investment.

Indeed, J&J MedTech Korea, which handles J&J Medical products, has been expanding its influence by introducing new technologies every year.

In April 2024, the orthopedic surgical robot VELYS received domestic approval for total knee arthroplasty. In April and November last year, the company introduced the pulsed field ablation platform VARIPULSE and the ultra-small artificial heart pump Impella CP, respectively.

Notably, along with new product approvals, the company opened a training center at its Seoul headquarters at the end of 2024, where Korean healthcare professionals can receive procedural education and training on the company’s latest therapeutic devices, aiming to create synergy.

In addition, last year the company also opened the ‘Busan MedTech Lab,’ a procedural training center in Busan, expanding its procedural education infrastructure to regional areas.

Changes in sales and revenue share by J&J medical device business entity

Through these two training centers, the company is focusing on increasing touchpoints for Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s flagship surgical medical devices, and these efforts are being analyzed to contribute to revenue growth.

At the time, Jin-yong Oh, North Asia Area Managing Director of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, said, “With the opening of the training center, we hope to actively operate procedural education and training based on Johnson & Johnson MedTech Korea’s advanced medical devices and treatment solutions, thereby contributing to improving Korean healthcare professionals’ procedural capabilities. We will continue working to rapidly introduce innovative products to Korea that can help patients live healthier lives.”

Ultimately, considering how J&J Medical’s major product groups are in knee replacement and atrial fibrillation, areas where patient numbers continue to rise along with population aging, the influence of high-value, hospital-based equipment is expected to grow further.

Premium ophthalmology and lens strategy…profitability put to the test

J&J Vision’s growth trajectory is interpreted as the result of a strategy that maximized expertise in the ophthalmology specialty area, Surgical Vision, and the contact lens business.

In particular, premium product lines played a key role by targeting both the increase in cataract patients amid the transition into a super-aged society and demand for vision correction among younger consumers.

In fact, with the number of cataract patients in Korea reaching approximately 1.5 million as of 2024, J&J Vision has launched new products as the market shifts toward next-generation multifocal intraocular lenses (IOLs).

In September last year, the company introduced TECNIS Odyssey, a next-generation multifocal intraocular lens for cataract surgery, and is actively targeting the market through the product.

However, given that contact lenses, another major revenue pillar, are classified as a consumer medical device, the need to address rising cost pressures is expected to grow.

Since the company already secured profitability last year by reducing SG&A expenses, its response measures this year are expected to become a key issue.

Ultimately, the fact that both Medical and Vision share the challenge of rising cost burdens is likely to act as a variable affecting future performance.

This is because Medical faces cost pressures due to its structure centered on high-priced equipment, while Vision is relatively more susceptible to cost fluctuations due to the nature of its contact lens-focused consumer goods business.

Ultimately, future performance is expected to hinge not on the sheer scale of sales, but on the company’s ability to expand the share of premium products and manage its cost structure.