[E-Daily Reporter KIM SAE-MI ] HASS Corp.(450330), which has seen stagnant sales for the past three years, is aiming to reshape the zirconia-based dental restoration materials market with a new lithium disilicate product that can be processed without water.

Sales Stagnant for Third Consecutive Year… Global Market Growth Also Below Expectations

HASS Corp. is a dental glass-ceramic materials company that listed on the KOSDAQ market in July 2024 and is approaching its second anniversary as a publicly traded company. Its core business is dental lithium disilicate prosthetic restoration materials. This high-strength dental glass-ceramic material is primarily used in aesthetic restorations because it can achieve transparency and color similar to natural teeth.

At the time of its initial public offering (IPO), HASS Corp. projected 2025 revenue of 34.9 billion won in the best-case scenario, 27.3 billion won in the normal-case scenario, and 21.4 billion won in the worst-case scenario. However, actual revenue for 2025 amounted to only 16.6 billion won, falling short of even the most conservative estimate by approximately 4.8 billion won. Revenue over the past three years has also remained virtually stagnant, at 16 billion won in 2023, 16.2 billion won in 2024, and 16.6 billion won in 2025.

HASS Corp. cited the slower-than-expected growth of the global lithium disilicate market as the reason for its recent sales slump. At the time of its IPO, HASS Corp. had set a goal of increasing its market share in the global lithium disilicate market—which stood at about 5%—to 10% within two to three years. However, as market growth has fallen short of expectations, it appears the timeline for achieving this goal will be delayed.

The relatively small size of the market itself is also cited as a limitation. The size of the global lithium disilicate market, as presented by HASS Corp. at the time of its IPO, was 318.9 billion won in 2022. Based on this figure, a 5% market share would translate to approximately 15.9 billion won in revenue. Although HASS Corp. projected that the market would grow to 966.8 billion won by 2029, this figure still falls short of 1 trillion won.

HASS Corp. cited the rapid growth of the zirconia market—a competing material—as one of the reasons for the slow growth of the global lithium disilicate market. Zirconia has rapidly gained traction in dental clinics and laboratories due to its low price, ease of processing, and high strength. In particular, its ability to support dry milling—which reduces equipment operating costs and enhances production efficiency—is cited as a key advantage. Milling refers to the process of using a machine to cut blocks made of materials such as ceramics or zirconia into the desired tooth shape when manufacturing dental prosthetics.

Limitations in the overseas dealer network also played a role. Although HASS Corp. generates more than 90% of its revenue from exports, it relies on local dealers for sales in most regions outside of its U.S. and Chinese subsidiaries. The company noted that many overseas dealers handling HASS Corp. products were third- or fourth-tier distributors in their respective regions, which limited their sales capabilities. Since its IPO, HASS Corp. has been using the proceeds to increase participation in global trade shows and marketing efforts, while also working to replace local dealers.

Despite the limited market size, HASS Corp. plans to maintain its lithium disilicate business as a core pillar. A HASS Corp. official stated, “Although the lithium disilicate market is not large, the technological barriers are so high that there are few dental material companies worldwide capable of producing this material,” adding with pride, “HASS Corp. is a company that has entered the specialized market of transforming glass into dental prosthetic materials.”

The strengths of lithium disilicate lie in its aesthetic appeal and physical properties, which closely resemble those of natural teeth. While zirconia is inexpensive and easy to process, the material is excessively hard and opaque, limiting its ability to replicate the unique translucency, color, and wear characteristics of natural teeth.

In contrast, lithium disilicate can express varying degrees of translucency and shade across different parts of the tooth, giving it an advantage in areas where a natural appearance is crucial, such as front teeth, veneers, and aesthetic restorations. It is also considered a patient-friendly material in terms of occlusion, as it can achieve strength and wear characteristics similar to those of natural teeth. However, lithium disilicate has the drawback of higher raw material and processing costs than zirconia, and existing products required wet processing, making fabrication more difficult.

The Game-Changer “Amber

DryMill”…

Will It Transform the Prosthetic Materials Landscape

? In response, HASS Corp. has developed “Amber DryMill,” a new lithium disilicate material that can be processed dry, without water. A HASS Corp. representative explained, “While dentists know that glass-ceramics are excellent materials, they have been limited by their high cost and difficulty in milling,” adding, “Amber DryMill was developed with the goal of creating a lithium disilicate that is as easy to mill as zirconia.”

According to HASS Corp., Amber DryMill is a new product that enables dry milling among glass-ceramic materials. Conventional glass-ceramic materials require wet milling—which involves the use of water during the prosthesis fabrication process—and have been criticized for drawbacks such as the burden of equipment cleaning and maintenance, long processing times, increased consumption of cutting burs, and chipping. Amber DryMill supports both dry and wet milling and is designed to be used not only with existing high-cost wet milling equipment but also with standard dry milling equipment.

HASS Corp. obtained domestic approval for the Amber DryMill last February and is set to officially launch it in Korea in July. HASS Corp. aims to secure global approvals, including from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European CE mark, in January or February of next year, with a global launch targeted for March of the same year. In preparation for the launch, HASS Corp. is conducting compatibility testing and milling optimization with major domestic and international milling machine manufacturers. The company plans to distribute dedicated milling templates tailored to the various milling machines used by dental clinics and laboratories to minimize trial and error during the on-site implementation process.

HASS Corp. has high expectations for the Amber DryMill. The company views this product as a key solution to overcome its recent sales slump. It explains that the product offers greater price competitiveness than existing lithium disilicate products and, with a low cost ratio, can contribute to improved profitability. In particular, the company anticipates that the Amber DryMill will not only absorb demand for existing glass-ceramic product lines from other manufacturers but also capture a portion of the zirconia and hybrid materials markets.

A HASS Corp. official stated, “While absorbing demand for existing glass-ceramic product lines from other companies, we expect to generate replacement demand in the existing materials market—such as zirconia and hybrid materials—where we have been increasing our market share through dry milling.” Amber DryMill is expected to disrupt the existing prosthetic materials market, where lithium disilicate was valued for aesthetics and zirconia for machinability.

In the long term, the company is also exploring ways to expand into non-dental businesses, such as extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optical materials and semiconductor glass substrates, based on its glass processing technology. HASS Corp. has been carrying out related government projects since 2024.

The EUV optical material project currently being carried out by HASS Corp. is related to the development of glass materials that can be used in lenses or optical systems that project light during semiconductor manufacturing processes. In addition, the company is working on a project titled “Manufacturing of Wafer-Type Aluminosilicate Glass Substrates and Development of Photochemical Reaction-Based Via Hole Processing Technology for Holes of 10 μm or Smaller.” This technology relates to glass substrates, which are garnering significant attention in the semiconductor packaging sector—a factor that once led the stock market to classify HASS Corp. as a glass substrate-related stock.

However, since these projects are long-term R&D initiatives spanning four and a half years, it is expected to take a considerable amount of time before they translate into actual revenue. The company also stated, “Currently, these projects (outside the dental field) are in the R&D stage; please view them as options for future growth rather than immediate revenue sources.”