With emerging markets set to account for a third of the industry\u2019s global revenue by 2022*, the growth opportunity for medical OEMs is enormous. Increased GDP and greater income per capita in developing countries means patients are becoming more proactive about their health. As a result, they can afford higher quality treatment plans and devices.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, however, medical device manufacturers can sometimes fail to fully realize this commercial opportunity.\u202fThat\u2019s because, rather than developing and tailoring products to meet the individual needs of each local market, medical OEMs have instead focused on importing technologies developed for existing markets.<\/p>\n
And while this approach may offer some initial \u201cquick wins\u201d in emerging economies, it may come at the expense of long-term success.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t overlook regional dynamics<\/span><\/b> Through my experience\u00a0of\u00a0working with medical device manufacturers, it’s apparent that emerging markets respond better to smaller incremental technological advances.\u00a0For example, any technology will be more applicable if the associated physician training doesn\u2019t involve a steep learning curve relative to existing practice.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I think this\u202fapproach\u00a0can be\u202ffar more successful than introducing step changes in technology that are only\u00a0of use\u00a0to a limited audience.<\/p>\n Minimizing risk and cost ultimately inhibits growth<\/span><\/b> In practice, introducing forward-thinking products\u00a0may\u00a0prompt the local network to respond, but\u00a0for the most part,\u00a0this will only be\u00a0in those communities that have already seen significant investment. Where the infrastructure, technologies and resources are in place to\u00a0absorb\u00a0and embrace\u00a0the\u00a0product, it\u00a0may\u00a0succeed. But\u00a0its\u00a0impact\u00a0will\u00a0likely\u00a0be limited to\u00a0a small subset of the total population,\u00a0thereby\u00a0inhibiting\u00a0OEM growth.<\/p>\n Prioritize custom product development<\/span><\/b> After all,\u00a0this\u00a0mirrors the innovation pathway that OEMs follow in developed markets \u2013 a need is identified, and products are developed according to the regulatory, reimbursement, and pricing environment.\u00a0Why should\u00a0our approach in\u00a0emerging markets be any different?<\/p>\n Invest in the supply chain <\/span><\/b> For those who do,\u00a0however,\u00a0the results are\u00a0worthwhile. Not only will they have the satisfaction of providing discrete solutions, explicitly tailored to local needs,\u00a0they are also\u00a0much\u00a0more likely\u00a0to achieve long term success\u00a0and\u00a0market\u00a0growth.<\/p>\n *Source: BMI MedTech, Evaluate MedTech, BCG analysis<\/em><\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With emerging markets set to account for a third of the industry\u2019s global revenue by 2022*, the growth opportunity for medical OEMs is enormous. Increased GDP and greater income per capita in developing countries means patients are becoming more proactive about their health. As a result, they can afford higher quality treatment plans and devices. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medical"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTransferring existing technologies directly into emerging markets tends to overlook regional dynamics such as local regulatory requirements, physician training, and municipal infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\nNot that I don\u2019t appreciate why introducing existing products and technologies provides an attractive route to market\u00a0\u2013\u00a0new product development\u00a0can necessitate\u00a0significant capital.\u00a0However, although\u00a0this tactic\u00a0minimizes\u00a0risk for OEMs\u00a0in terms of cost,\u00a0I feel\u00a0it\u00a0ultimately\u00a0provides\u00a0a less than perfect solution to local requirements.<\/p>\n
\nInstead of transplanting existing technologies into new markets, I believe that medical OEMs may do better to adopt a strategy of localized product development, focusing entirely on the needs of the emerging market.<\/p>\n
\nYet, just as in developed economies,\u00a0localized product development is\u00a0not a strategy that OEMs can pursue in isolation.\u00a0Working\u00a0closely with\u00a0regional\u00a0component suppliers\u00a0can provide significant advantages by\u00a0establishing\u00a0a\u00a0secure,\u00a0localized cost base.\u00a0Personally,\u00a0I\u2019m not sure\u00a0OEMs\u00a0can fully\u00a0explore\u00a0developing market opportunities unless they are prepared to invest\u00a0time and\u00a0effort in the supply chain.<\/p>\n