SK Telecom's flagship kids wearable brand "JooN" is quietly exiting the market after 11 years. The first-generation brand that led the kids wearable boom in the mid-2010s and pioneered the children's safety and telecom market is coming to an end amid changes in technology and service paradigms.
According to the telecom industry on the 5th, SK Telecom deleted the privacy policy for the "COOKIZ Watch JooN" service from its website at the end of last month. Earlier, the company ended the COOKIZ Watch JooN app service on Sept. 30 this year, and it said the latest step is a follow-up wrap-up procedure following the service shutdown. With this, the "JooN" lineup that has continued since its first launch in 2014 has effectively faded into history.
SK Telecom entered the children's smartwatch market in July 2014 by unveiling its own brand "JooN," becoming the first in the industry. With voice calls, the dedicated messenger "JooN Talk," real-time child location checks, emergency alerts, and character-raising features, it offered parents a means of managing child safety and gave kids play elements. At one point, the telecom industry had high hopes of fostering kids-only wearables as a new growth engine.
However, as location checks and contact functions were rapidly replaced by mobile messenger and calling apps, and as communication between parents and children shifted to smartphones, demand for wrist-type kids devices plummeted.
While dedicated smartwatch lineups like "JooN" are disappearing, SK Telecom and SK Broadband plan to continue services for kids customers through the integrated children's brand "ZEM," which spans fixed and mobile.