According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, revenues for endoscope services will grow moderately in the United States through 2021. Due to the capital budget constraints faced by many facilities and the fragile nature of advanced endoscopes, it is generally more cost-effective for facilities to have their endoscopes serviced rather than to replace them completely with new systems.
Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) compete with third-party vendors for endoscope service business. While third-party services have become increasingly competitive, revenues generated by OEMs will continue to grow slightly faster. Some of the strategic advantages for OEMs include the funding to engage in national marketing efforts, having proprietary parts, and offering a wide breadth of service and payment programs.
Marketing campaigns from OEMs such as Olympus and Stryker highlight the advantages of OEM endoscope repair and the potential risks of third-party repairs. For example, OEMs have access to the exact parts and service manuals for their endoscopes, which facilities value, particularly for new endoscopes.
OEMs are also able to negotiate service contracts when new endoscope purchases are made; this is something that third-party vendors cannot do. “Even though OEMs have generally dominated in this market, third-party vendors have made several strides to better compete as well,” said MRG Senior Analyst Lexie Code.
“In particular, acquisitions between third-party vendors have given them wider service networks and larger budgets so that they can compete with OEMs for high-value group purchasing organization (GPO) service contracts.” Overall, however, OEMs will continue to be the preferred endoscope service companies in the US through 2021, and the expensive nature of repairs by these companies will continue to fuel revenue expansion in the endoscope service market.
