Three Japanese makeup brands left Taiwan on the same day — K-beauty had already won

On August 31, 2017, three Japanese-owned color-cosmetics brands — ANNA SUI (in Taiwan since 1999), PAUL & JOE (since 2004) and LADURÉE (since 2014) — simultaneously withdrew from the Taiwanese market. Their distributor, Taiwan Allenby (台灣艾倫比), confirmed that agency contracts had expired and would not be renewed. The simultaneous exit of three brands with a combined 35 years of Taiwan market presence shocked the local beauty industry.

The withdrawal was the culmination of a two-year competitive shift. Korean makeup brands had entered Taiwan aggressively, offering lower prices and leveraging K-drama marketing to capture younger consumers. Major Western brands like Lancôme and Estée Lauder responded by joining the K-drama promotion wave, intensifying competition further. Taiwan Allenby had relied on confidence in product quality and assumed the Korean trend would fade, causing it to miss critical market opportunities. The brands failed to maintain a continuous pipeline of trendy, recognizable new products.

Pricing compounded the problem. PAUL & JOE's cat sunscreen powder sold for NT$1,950 in Taiwan versus approximately NT$1,375 in Japan — a 42% premium that consumers discussed openly online. LADURÉE's delicate pink design attracted younger shoppers who could not afford it, while mature high-spending customers preferred more understated brands like Dior. New entrants including Tom Ford and ADDICTION increased pressure. In a strategic 'keep the big, drop the small' decision, Taiwan Allenby abandoned the disadvantaged makeup brands to focus resources on the more stable skincare brand ALBION.