Tough Times Ahead for OEM Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Service Providers, GE and Siemens

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, the complex competitive landscape of the US diagnostic imaging equipment servicing market is continuously evolving as imaging facilities seek to cut costs. Competitors in this market range from smaller service providers that concentrate on providing servicing for just one modality, to larger independent service organizations (ISO) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM).

The diagnostic imaging equipment servicing market is extremely fragmented, with large-scale vendors such as GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, and Siemens Healthcare holding a dominant share of the market. In addition to selling multiple imaging modalities, these larger vendors are also able to provide servicing for the equipment manufactured by themselves and by other companies. OEM vendors have a strong brand and customers are more confident in the OEM's ability to service and repair their scanners. ISOs such as Unisyn Medical technologies, Genesis Medical Imaging, Platinum Medical Imaging, and JDI Solutions, however, can be as much as 30% cheaper than an OEM and position themselves as being more flexible to meet the customer's needs.

"The ability for facilities to acquire equipment and services from the same organization is an attractive proposition for hospitals because they frequently prefer the convenience of dealing with as few vendors as possible," says Ravindra Sharma, Manager of Imaging and Health Care IT at MRG. "There is, however, an increasing pressure on radiology departments to minimize costs as reimbursement cuts squeeze profits and budgets are very tight. Consequently, ISOs will increase their market share in the US over the next few years."

This market will also witness further consolidation as bigger ISOs seek to grow through acquisitions and achieve more rationalized parts inventories and economies of scale. Minimizing downtime of imaging scanners is vital to smooth functioning of any radiology department; additionally, downtime translates into lost revenues. To minimize downtimes, service providers need to have a rationalized inventory of parts that balances both inventory holding costs and ensures customer satisfaction. Acquisitions are one way of increasing a service provider's parts inventory. Additionally, strategic acquisitions allow a service provider to quickly build its capabilities in modalities it has not served traditionally.

MRG's US Markets for Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Servicing 2010 report provides information on annual service contracts and parts revenues for computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and general radiography systems. In depth analysis of the competitive scenario and five year growth forecast for each market are also included.

About Millennium Research Group

Millennium Research Group (www.MRG.net), a Decision Resources, Inc. company (www.DecisionResourcesInc.com), is the global authority on medical technology market intelligence and the leading provider of strategic information to the healthcare sector. The company provides specialized industry expertise through multiclient market research, ongoing Marketrack™ projects, customer behavior tracking, facility-level procedure forecasting, and customized solutions.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

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For more information, contact:

Amy Krohn

Millennium Research Group

416-364-7776 ext. 101

akrohn(at)mrg.net