China's Ultrasound Market Sees Strong Economic Growth

While the drastic effects of the economic recession have been seen in the Western European and North American markets for ultrasound imaging equipment, the Chinese market has seen considerable growth over the last two years.

Driven by China's ongoing healthcare reform, strong economic growth and the Chinese population's increasing awareness of healthcare issues, a market research company predicts that the Chinese market for ultrasound imaging equipment will exceed US$1 billion by 2014, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3%.

According to a recent market report from InMedica (Wellingborough, UK), short-term, the Chinese market for ultrasound equipment has benefited from the government's focus on upgrading medical devices in the thousands of township and county hospitals across China; this has prevented the earlier anticipated dramatic decline of the black and white equipment market. The increasing number of government tenders has also attracted multinational companies to refocus on the low-end of the market by setting up local joint ventures, expanding their product lines and rebuilding sales channels.

"Long-term, the market will be fuelled by the replacement of black and white ultrasound units by higher-price color systems. In addition, more local manufacturers have entered the color market segment, which has increased competition in the market place,” commented Owen Tang, a Shanghai-based analyst at InMedica. "There are now far more local suppliers of color equipment than when we initially looked at this market in 2008. As a consequence, color equipment has become much more affordable to many more customers. Multinational companies still play a key role in the color systems market, but more so at the high-end,” continued Mr. Tang.

While the Healthcare Reform in China motivated demand for ultrasound equipment over the last two years, the government support provided previously will not continue at the same level. Hospitals and health centers themselves are now driving future demand; many are updating existing equipment or expanding to accommodate larger patient volumes. Moreover, clinical departments outside of traditional ultrasound departments in large hospitals are starting to purchase their own ultrasound systems. This is spurring a new wave of demand and is a trend that InMedica believes will continue into many of the smaller hospitals.

InMedica is the medical research division of IMS Research, a supplier of market research and consultancy services on a wide range of global electronics markets. The company is supported by headquarters in Wellingborough, UK, and offices in Austin, TX, USA, and Shanghai, China. IMS Research regularly publishes research on medical imaging devices (such as ultrasound, X-ray, and magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]), consumer medical devices (telehealth, blood pressure monitors and sports performance monitors), and clinical care markets (such as patient monitors, ventilators, and infusion pumps).

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