Study Reveals Significant Opportunities in Declining Patient Monitoring Market

Companies must provide more value for money or value added services

A study conducted by Cambridge Consultants into the Critical Cardiac Care Monitoring market has concluded that significant opportunities for growth are being missed and that with careful positioning, any one of the current major players could take the majority share.

At present not a single company can claim a market share in excess of 30%. Using market improvement and strategy programmes, designed to enhance the impact and value of a product launch, companies can start to achieve enhanced market share and growth in a declining market.

Cambridge Consultants looked at the main Critical Cardiac Care Monitoring markets in Western Europe and found that between 1999 and 2002 they were static or in recession. When segmenting the market, Cambridge Consultants also found that the market for products aimed at patients with medium acuity needs was the largest in terms of value, but the leading players in the industry only supplied 65% of the products. This compares with the similar sized high acuity monitoring market, where the leading players supplied 95% of the equipment.

One conclusion from the study is that the boundary between medium and high acuity markets is becoming increasingly ill defined as the monitoring business moves towards a more adaptable, price-sensitive market. In order to gain market share, companies will have to take advantage of this by either producing products that are clearly excellent value for money, or to provide more value-added services and clinical IT support.

With the exception of one company, almost all market participants within patient monitoring have launched new product families or product offerings over the past three years, but in general these have not had significant impact on market share. Such introduction efforts have been accelerated by the industry's micro-recession in 2000 and the continuing zero or near zero growth that has been observed since.

Tim Clay, manager of Business Innovation Management who conducted the study commented, "Companies are going to have to become more adaptable and face the changing market in order to survive. To gain and maintain position as the overall market leader in Critical Cardiac Care Monitoring, new business models will have to be adopted which closely examine all financial, portfolio and geographic options to determine the best strategy for moving forward."

Cambridge Consultants used their Performance Modelling (PM) methodology to assess the supply and demand performance of each competitor in the industry. Rather than just analysing metrics to determine performance, PM is a balance of quantitative and qualitative indices. These include quality, utility, reliability, purchase performance and connectivity and are designed for the competitive comparisons of product performance, as well as market growth and share.

Notes for editors:

Cambridge Consultants develops breakthrough products, creates and licenses intellectual property, and provides business consultancy in technology critical issues for clients worldwide. For 50 years, the company has been helping its clients turn business opportunities into commercial successes, whether they are launching first-to-market products, entering new markets or expanding existing markets through the introduction of new technologies. With a team of over 300 engineers, designers, scientists and consultants, in offices in Cambridge (UK) and Boston (USA), Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology, industrial and consumer products, transport, energy, cleantech and wireless communications.

Throughout 2010, Cambridge Consultants celebrates its 50th year in business. Created by three Cambridge graduates in 1960, the company has grown into a leading technology business, renowned worldwide for its ability to solve technical problems and provide innovative, practical solutions to commercial issues. In 2009, the company was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. For more information visit: www.CambridgeConsultants.com

Cambridge Consultants is part of Altran, the European leader in innovation and high technology consulting. The Group’s 17,500 consultants, operating worldwide, cover the entire range of engineering specialities, including electronics, information technology, quality and organisation. Altran offers its clients ongoing support throughout the innovation cycle, from technology watch, applied basic research and management consulting to industrial systems engineering and information systems. The Group provides services to most industries, including the automotive, aeronautics, space, life sciences and telecommunications sectors. Founded in 1982, Altran operates in 20 priority countries. In 2008, it generated a turnover of €1,650 million. For more information visit: www.altran.com

The Critical Cardiac Care Monitoring market
For the purpose of this study the Critical Cardiac Care Monitoring market is defined as the multi-parameter cardiac monitoring of patients within intensive or coronary care units, or those undergoing cardiac surgery. Cambridge Consultants estimates that the Critical Cardiac Care market in Western Europe was worth $118m in 2002.

The market can be segmented into low, medium and high acuity monitoring, which relates to the level of technology and features required. For example, patients requiring high acuity monitoring are typically undergoing extensive cardiac surgery within large hospitals. Patients requiring medium or low acuity will usually be undergoing surgery that requires sufficient cardiac monitoring but less in terms of advanced features. Within the current market, however, this definition is becoming less transparent as competitors are forced to provide higher technology products at minimal price increases.

For further information:

Cambridge Consultants

George Griffiths
Press & Communications Manager
Tel: +44 1223 420024
George.Griffiths@CambridgeConsultants.com