October 7, 2026
[Industry News Reporter Seo Young-gil] APR is demonstrating a formidable presence in the U.S. beauty market and is effectively playing the role of a vanguard for 'K-Beauty'. This is because APR's 'Medicube' has already solidified an unrivaled status, accounting for approximately one-fifth of total sales in the U.S. TikTok Shop skincare market.
In particular, the fact that APR maintained its undisputed number one position and the gap with the second-ranked brand even as Medicube’s monthly sales decreased compared to the previous month suggests that APR is solidifying its brand influence in the US social commerce market beyond temporary virality.
According to the beauty industry on the 6th, market analysis using sales data from the U.S. TikTok Shop by global e-commerce data analysis firm Charm.io showed that skincare sales in August amounted to $75.6 million.
Among these, sales of Medicube, one of APR's flagship brands, amounted to $14.2 million, accounting for 19% of the total. This means that approximately $1 out of every $5 spent on skincare products at the U.S. TikTok Shop went to Medicube products.
The market share of the second-ranked Korean skincare brand, Dr. Melaxin, was 11%, showing an 8 percentage point difference from Medicube.
Unlike specific products rising to the top of sales rankings, the fact that a single brand accounted for nearly 20% of total category sales is interpreted as a meaningful indicator showing the extent to which Medicube's local sales base has expanded.
Competition among K-beauty brands in the US TikTok Shop skincare market is also very fierce. In August, the top 10 skincare brands accounted for 45% of the category's sales, and eight of them were Korean brands. This means that Medicube secured the highest market share in a situation where K-beauty is virtually dominating the top ranks of the TikTok Shop skincare market.
19% Market Share Despite Declining Sales… Different from Being No. 1 During Success
What stands out in these figures is that Medicube did not achieve these results during the period when it had reached its 'sales peak'.
Medicube's sales on the TikTok Shop in August actually decreased by 20% compared to July. During the same period, overall skincare sales on the TikTok Shop in the U.S. also fell by 6%. Nevertheless, Medicube generated $14.2 million in sales and maintained its lead with a 19% market share.
Total beauty sales at the U.S. TikTok Shop in August were $228 million, an increase of $1 million from the previous month, but sales trends by product category were erratic, with skincare showing negative growth.
Social commerce is a market where sales volume fluctuates depending on discount events, influencer content, or the popularity of specific videos. For this reason, rather than rankings at the time of peak sales, maintaining a gap with competing brands during price adjustments is becoming another criterion for judging brand sustainability.
Despite a significant decrease in August sales compared to the previous month, Medicube demonstrated remarkable strength by maintaining a market share 8 percentage points higher than the second-ranked brand. This effectively proves through numbers that the brand is entering a phase of continuously attracting consumers within the platform based on its own brand recognition, rather than relying on the temporary success of specific products.
This trend is also being detected in data from the first half of this year. Beauty sales at the U.S. TikTok Shop reached $662.2 million in the second quarter, with skincare accounting for the largest share at 36%. In the live commerce sales figures for the first half of the year released last month, Medicube ranked first among beauty brands with approximately $19.4 million in revenue.
In particular, the industry assesses that product characteristics have played a role in Medicube’s strength on TikTok. APR operates both Medicube skincare and the home beauty device AGE-R.
It is also being suggested that the product structure is well-suited to TikTok, which is centered on short videos, creating a synergistic effect by effectively showing the process of using the product on the skin, the usage of the device, and the care process through video.
APR has established a value chain ranging from planning to research and development, production, and after-sales service, with the technology development of home beauty devices handled by the APR Device R&D Center and production handled by APR Factory.
Expanding sales channels beyond online success… coupled with export growth
Medicube's competitiveness in social commerce is becoming increasingly prominent amidst the recent trend of expanding K-beauty exports. According to the September import and export trends announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 1st, cosmetics exports reached $1.51 billion, a 31.4% increase from the same month last year, marking an all-time high on a monthly basis. Exports also grew evenly across major markets, including China, the United States, ASEAN, and the European Union (EU).
APR is also showing a notable export-oriented growth trend. In the first half of this year, consolidated sales reached 1.3609 trillion won and operating profit was 342.8 billion won. Exports in the first half of the year totaled 1.2323 trillion won, already surpassing last year's annual export figure of 1.2258 trillion won.
In the United States, efforts to expand the brand awareness gained online to the offline market are also underway simultaneously. Medicube is expanding its sales outlets to major retail networks such as Target and Walmart. The targets include over 3,000 Walmart stores as well as 1,500 Target stores.
Given that the company has recently maintained a high market share on TikTok Shop, this offline expansion is interpreted as a strategy to diversify sales channels rather than a move to replace online sales. It implies that the company is drawing a larger picture to expand its consumer base by extending its reach to large offline distribution networks while maintaining the brand awareness and sales power secured through social commerce.
In fact, the proportion of online sales channels in APR's consolidated sales channels decreased from 75.8% in 2024 to 66.6% in 2025 and 61.4% in the first half of this year, while the proportion of offline sales increased from 24.2% to 33.4% and 38.6% during the same period. As offline sales networks are rapidly added to the online-centric growth structure, the distribution portfolio is showing signs of becoming more diversified.
When evaluating Medicube's future business in the U.S., it is necessary to examine its market share within the platform, the gap with competing brands, and the expansion of sales in offline channels, rather than simply looking at sales rankings on the TikTok Shop.
While it is too early to conclude long-term market dominance based solely on a 19% market share in August, the fact that it maintained its lead by capturing about one-fifth of the skincare market even during a sales adjustment phase is considered an indicator that Medicube is not merely enjoying temporary popularity in the U.S., but rather demonstrates the underlying strength of 'K-Beauty' and a solid sales foundation.
Medicube's next challenge in the U.S. market appears to depend on how effectively it can convert the high brand awareness gained on TikTok into a stable revenue base. This is because if the purchasing demand generated on social commerce extends to major distribution networks and its own channels, it can establish a growth structure that does not rely on the success of a specific platform.
APR's recent acceleration in expanding its offline distribution network is also observed to be in line with this sales strategy. If the strategy of raising brand awareness and securing consumers online before expanding sales touchpoints offline takes hold, it appears highly likely that Medicube's U.S. business will evolve beyond a mere K-beauty trend into a stage of long-term brand growth.