The "health anxiety" market is a rather surreal space. Would you believe that a brand that gained popularity through massage devices has managed to have top celebrity Wang Yibo create a custom voice for it, enlisted Elon Musk's mother as its global health ambassador, and even received a handwritten message from Jack Ma after a three-hour conversation that read "Never give up"? With these credentials alone, SKG appears to be the quintessential success story of an internet-famous consumer brand. However, reality often presents a cooler perspective. Recently, this commercial marvel that rose by tapping into "young people's health anxiety," after facing two setbacks in its attempts to list on the A-share market, has pivoted to pursue a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. SKG's parent company, Future Wearables Health Technology Co., Ltd. (SKG Future Health), has officially submitted its application for a main board listing on the Hong Kong Exchange, with China Securities (International) Finance Holding Company Limited acting as the sole sponsor.

The journey from a traditional small appliance manufacturer to an internet-famous brand, and from two failed A-share listing attempts to a new charge on the Hong Kong market, makes SKG's story far more tumultuous than one might imagine. It begins with a grassroots entrepreneur's high-stakes gamble. According to media reports, Liu Jie, born in 1975 with a technical secondary school education, initially ran a restaurant in his hometown of Chongqing and even operated a coal mine in his early years. It wasn't until 2007 that he arrived in Shunde, Guangdong—the "kingdom of home appliances"—and established the predecessor of SKG: a small enterprise named Foshan Shikai Living Appliance Co., Ltd. His original dream was to engage in cross-border e-commerce, selling Chinese-manufactured home appliances globally.

Air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines... the product range was extensive, but reality proved harsh. During those years, capital was burned through rapidly while inventory piled up higher and higher, nearly depleting the initial 40 million yuan in startup funds. A turning point emerged from a meeting. In 2013, Liu Jie was invited by Alibaba founder Jack Ma to Hangzhou for discussions. The two conversed for over three hours. Even more dramatic was the parting gesture: Ma wrote a message on paper for Liu: "Never give up." This encouragement served as a spiritual totem, becoming the emotional pillar for Liu's subsequent transformation.

The real pivot in business strategy occurred in 2016. That year, Liu Jie decided to abandon the broad, comprehensive home appliance market, cutting numerous traditional product categories and repositioning the company as an "expert in beauty and health appliances." In the same year, SKG launched its first cervical massage device, the "4098 series." No one could have predicted that this product, targeting neck pain among urban dwellers, would precisely hit a collective anxiety of the era, becoming a turning point for the company's destiny. What followed was a playbook now familiar to many.

Endorsements rotated through top stars like Wang Yibo, Yang Yang, and Gulnazar; live-streaming sales by Li Jiaqi; repeated placements in popular shows like "Sisters Who Make Waves" and "Friends, Please Listen"; even a custom voice version featuring Wang Yibo was released. Through sheer force, SKG transformed from a niche brand into a fashionable item pursued by young people. After solidifying its domestic position, SKG set its sights overseas. In 2024, it played what could be called a "masterstroke": signing Maye Musk, Elon Musk's mother, as its Global Health Ambassador.

Instantly, topics like "Chinese-made massage devices popular in the billionaire's household" and "Mother's Day gift for Musk's mom" went viral across the global internet. This move achieved immeasurable global brand exposure and trust endorsement at an extremely low cost. Simultaneously, SKG collaborated with over a hundred influencers on TikTok, replicating its "traffic play" overseas. From coal mine owner to founder of a health tech company, Liu Jie's cross-industry leap is nothing short of remarkable. Yet, the logic of the business world often holds that the most successful transformations sometimes stem from a clear-eyed recognition of one's own limitations and a sharp capture of the zeitgeist.

Having found its new niche, SKG's ability to "create internet fame" is notably aggressive. The most crucial step was directly tying itself to top-tier celebrities to capture the mindshare of young consumers. In 2020, SKG signed Wang Yibo at the peak of his popularity—a move that was almost a textbook example of precise targeting. The attributes associated with Wang Yibo—youthful, fashionable, tech-savvy, with strong fan loyalty—aligned perfectly with the brand image SKG aimed to build. Subsequently, endorsements rotated through Gulnazar, Yang Yang, and later Zhang Linghe, who rose to fame through "Love Between Fairy and Devil," ensuring SKG's ambassador roster remained firmly locked onto "rising centers of influence."

This strategy brought far more than just sales conversions; it successfully attached a "trendy identity" to what is fundamentally a functional product like a massage device. Next came an almost saturation-level exposure strategy. It became difficult to avoid SKG's presence, with repeated placements in hot variety shows and persistent bombardment in the live-streaming rooms of top influencers like Li Jiaqi. High-frequency touchpoints with young audiences, such as "Sisters Who Make Waves" and "Friends, Please Listen," were repeatedly dominated by SKG. Over time, it ceased selling merely "relief for neck discomfort" and began selling a packaged concept of a "refined, disciplined, self-care-oriented healthy lifestyle."

The move that pushed this traffic-driven logic to its extreme was the expansion overseas. In 2024, SKG leveraged a nearly irresistible topic—Elon Musk—by having his mother serve as Global Health Ambassador. The effect was immediate; topics like "Musk's mom uses Chinese massage device" repeatedly trended on international social media. The brilliance of this tactic lay in using the personal credibility of a globally recognized figure to provide cross-cultural endorsement for the brand, essentially trading traffic for trust and buzz for awareness. Looking back, SKG's path to success isn't mysterious, but it is exceedingly difficult to replicate.

The formula is clear: tie-in with top influencers + high-density exposure + prestige-backed overseas expansion. This isn't simply about spending money; it's about a precise grasp of the rules governing attention allocation. It was this very strategy that forcefully propelled an otherwise mundane massage device into a "viral product" that young people were willing to flaunt, wear, and discuss. So, how does a seemingly ordinary massage device support an IPO ambition? The answer lies not in the product itself, but in the chosen path.

In reality, SKG's journey to listing has been far less smooth than its brand story. This move to Hong Kong marks its third attempt at the capital market's doorstep. In June 2022, its IPO application for the ChiNext board was accepted but was voluntarily withdrawn in July 2023 after two rounds of inquiries. At the beginning of 2024, it shifted focus to the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), initiating listing guidance, leading outsiders to believe it had successfully "changed tracks," but the process terminated again several months later. From ChiNext to the BSE, both attempts ended in failure.

Now turning to the Hong Kong Exchange is essentially a pragmatic choice rather than an active upgrade. The reason is straightforward. The A-share market places greater emphasis on long-term growth and industrial depth, whereas SKG's reality is stable cash flow but a clear growth ceiling; a strong brand but a shallow moat. In contrast, the Hong Kong market shows higher tolerance for mature consumer brands and emphasizes cash flow certainty, which explains why it has become the new destination. However, heading to Hong Kong doesn't make the underlying challenges disappear; they will likely be scrutinized more directly.

Shortly before submitting the application, in September-October 2025, SKG declared and paid a dividend of 199 million yuan. Controlling shareholders Liu Jie and his wife, holding approximately 86% of the shares, received about 170 million yuan. Against a backdrop of nearly stagnant revenue and declining R&D expenses, such a dividend payout rhythm inevitably prompts the market to reassess growth expectations. It's not "wrong," but it alters the capital market's perception of the company's developmental stage.

Returning to the business itself, SKG's current scale is less a result of technological breakthrough or category revolution, and more a product of being built layer by layer through traffic, endorsements, and channel efficiency. This model is incredibly sharp in the early stages but is inherently subject to diminishing marginal returns. As massage devices transition from "novelty purchases" to "household staples," repeat purchase rates are naturally limited, and the demand ceiling becomes apparent. Consumers might upgrade their phone yearly, but rarely replace a neck massager annually.

More critically, the technological barrier in the massage device sector is not high. Standardized core components and a mature, transparent supply chain mean competition revolves more around price, design, and marketing intensity rather than generational technological leaps. As long as channel expansion is aggressive enough and marketing keeps pace, competitive gaps can be quickly erased. Ultimately, capital markets care less about "how well it sells" and more about "possessing irreplicable qualities." On this front, SKG does not hold a strong advantage.

Simultaneously, the cost of acquiring brand visibility is rising. Top celebrity endorsements, prime variety show placements, super-influencer collaborations, international fame—each step is precise but implies high and sustained investment. Once entering the IPO cycle, marketing expenditures come under intense scrutiny. When growth is tightly coupled with marketing spend, the profit structure becomes exceptionally sensitive. At a deeper level, while SKG has successfully turned the massage device into a symbol of a "refined lifestyle," this symbolism leans more towards a trend than a necessity.

Trends are characterized by rapid change, and the preference shifts of young consumer groups often outpace the product iteration cycles of manufacturing. Once attention shifts, the decline in brand momentum could happen much faster than the company's ability to adjust. Ultimately, all these issues converge during the IPO pricing stage. The past few years have repeatedly shown that consumer brands built primarily on traffic often struggle in the secondary market. If the growth narrative consistently revolves around "greater exposure" and "the next ambassador," the valuation anchor becomes exceedingly fragile.

A massage device can be hyped into a viral product, but capital markets do not pay for hype. They demand certainty. From the entrepreneurial youth encouraged by Jack Ma's message to a boss presiding over a billion-yuan empire, Liu Jie's story is undoubtedly inspirational. The transformation from traditional home appliances to a viral massage device brand is a significant success for SKG. The real challenge SKG faces is not whether it *can* list, but whether, post-listing, it can tell a long-term story that doesn't rely entirely on traffic, is resilient to replication, and can endure economic cycles. Having failed twice to list on the A-share market and now turning to Hong Kong, SKG's ambition is clear. Perhaps the answer lies within that parting message: "Never give up."