Study Predicts Modest Growth for Orthopedic Power Tool Market

The global orthopedic power tools market will experience moderate growth from $1.41 billion in 2013 to $1.67 Billion by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate of 2.5 percent, according to London, England-based research and consulting firm GlobalData.

According to one of the firms latest reports, while all ten major markets (United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, China, and India) are expected to grow in sales, Western countries will experience stronger pricing pressures and delayed capital equipment upgrades as a result of their governments’ healthcare budget constraints for high-volume orthopedic surgeries.

“In Western economies, sales of pneumatic-powered tools will be declining as a proportion of the overall market, as surgeons adopt new-generation battery-powered systems,” said Linda Tian, GlobalData’s analyst covering orthopedic devices. “The adoption of these new technologies will be one of the key drivers of growth during the forecast period.”

She added that cost-containment efforts by cash-strapped hospitals will continue to result in pricing erosion in nearly every segment of the orthopedic power tools market, particularly with large-bone power tools. 

“The whole orthopedic community is now placing appreciable emphasis on austerity measures in hip and knee procedures,” she said.

Of the 10 major countries, GlobalData analyts expect revenues to grow fastest in China and India, because these markets offer a greater opportunity for power tool manufacturers seeking international expansion.

”While the high cost of battery-powered systems will hinder their widespread adoption in the developing world, the improving healthcare infrastructures and anticipated increase in procedure volumes in China and India will help to drive the market in these countries,” Tian said.

Stryker, which currently the world’s leading manufacturer of orthopedic power tools with 35 percent of the global market in 2013, will continue to dominate for the next few years, analyts predicted. However, the competitive landscape is expected to evolve.

“The bar for effective competition has been raised again and again in the power tools field, making it very difficult for small to midsized companies to navigate the competitive landscape,” Tian said. “How the tier-two companies will leverage their platform technologies, in order to diversify their current portfolios and enhance their competitive edges against Stryker, will be the most interesting development to follow in the coming years.”

This report forecasts the global orthopedic power tools market to 2020, analyzing large-bone, small-bone, and high-speed power tools segments. Within each segment, the adoption level and sales unit of battery-, electric-, and pneumatic-powered systems, and the revenue stream from capital equipment sales, consumables sales and repair service are tracked and estimated.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of analysts.