The compact ultrasound market outpaced the overall ultrasound market in 2010, rising by 21% from the prior year to reach $276 million in the U.S., reveals research released recently by analyst Harvey Klein, Ph.D., of Klein Biomedical Consultants, Inc., New York City, N.Y.
Klein, whose research takes into account ultrasound systems weighing less than 14 pounds, also projects further robust growth of compact ultrasound systems for the foreseeable future. “The compact ultrasound market continues to be the largest segment of the overall ultrasound market in the U.S., and strong growth is expected to continue,” he says. “We believe the market will grow by a solid 13% over the next five years and reach $505 million in 2015.”
In the report, Klein further notes that cardiology, emergency medicine, radiology/vascular, anesthesiology, and musculoskeletal comprised the five largest compact ultrasound markets in 2010, representing 66% percent of the compact market in the U.S. “With recent introduction of handheld units, which are attractive to these specialties, this trend should continue,” he observes.
Moreover, with the launch of such handheld systems as the GE Vscan system last year, the handheld segment of the U.S. compact market is expected to gain increasing attention. Klein’s report predicts growth of handheld systems to reach $78 million in the year 2015 and to comprise 3% of the overall growth in compact systems. Klein also forecasts that the global compact market will grow by 11%, to $1.1 billion. The U.S. will continue to lead with an uptick of 13% while other markets outside the U.S. will increase by 10%.
As for manufacturers, the report cites SonoSite as the leader with a 42% market share, followed by GE and Philips, for an overall market share of 78%. The top-selling compact ultrasound products, according to Klein, were the SonoSite M-Turbo, the Philips CX50, the GE LOGIQ e, and the Zonare zone systems. These four systems accounted for 62% of the compact market last year.
