The medical supplies industry consists of companies engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of basic medical products such as surgical knives, forceps, gloves, syringes, bandages and dressings, medical laboratory equipment, stethoscopes, dental drills, x-ray films, veterinarian instruments, and other related supplies. The medical supplies excludes manufacturing and distribution of high-tech medical equipment and retail sales of drugs. Several strategies are adopted by the vendors of this industry to optimize profits. The companies with equipment supplies such as interventional cardiology devices and dental devices require extensive capital expenditures and revenue generation for their existence in the market. Their products are high-tech and large amount is spend on research and development activities to maintain a steady rollout of new offerings. However, profitability of the companies that supply disposable items such as syringes and surgical gloves is dependent on procedure volume, particularly in hospitals and therefore, does not require substantial amounts of capital expenditures. Therefore, availability of technologically advanced as well as more effective products and rise in investment in healthcare sector is fueling the market growth.

Medical Supplies Market Drivers

Increasing volume of hospitals, surgical, and outpatient procedures, and upgradation and enforcement of infection prevention standards is expected to increase the adoption of medical supplies over the forecast period, thereby driving growth of medical supplies market. For instance, in 2012, Kuwait Ministry of Health and Public Works announced a grant of US$ 4.4 billion to replace and expand nine operating hospitals, which is expected to provide additional 5,400 beds, 150 operating rooms, and 500 outpatient clinics. This is expected to create a conducive environment for growth of the market.

Increasing number of patients who require long-term therapy or surgery, drug delivery, and related products is expected to increase the demand for medical supplies, in turn driving growth of the market. The usage of safety-enhanced devices for the minimally invasive delivery of parenteral medicines, IV solutions, and inhalation therapies will lead to the growth of the market. The rising prevalence of chronic conditions such as cancer, heart disorders, neurological disorders, and gynecological disorders will lead to an increase in the number of hospitalizations, thereby increasing the demand for medical supplies. For instance, according to the CDC foundation, in 2015, around 800,000 people in the U.S. died due to stroke and other cardiovascular diseases. By the ageing demographic, there is a huge drive to develop devices that can both help the treatment of age-related conditions and early diagnosis chronic diseases. According to United Nations Organization, there are an estimated 962 million people aged 60 or over in the world in 2017, comprising 13% of the global population and this population is continuously growing at a rate of about 3 per cent per year. Currently, Europe has the greatest percentage of population aged 60 or over (25%) in the same year.

Medical Supplies Market Restraints

This market is fragmented with various large to small scale players, thus competition is very high among players to compete with. Vendors continuously cutting prices on legacy products to retain the market share and support production volume and net profit. Majority of the disposable products that are not protected by patents are more likely to open to competition. Thus all these factors may restraint the overall market growth to some extent. To overcome these factors, competitors need to improve their products that are already present in the market through technologies and might boost R&D spending to overcome any technology shortcomings.

Medical Supplies Market - Regional Analysis

On the basis of region, global medical supplies market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. Demand for medical supplies in the Western Europe, U.S., Japan, and most other developed countries will increase at a slow pace, as their medical supplies are already well established and have adopted stringent infection prevention standards to meet the health care needs of people. By contrast, growth in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries and many other emerging economies expected to spur as health care sectors are modernized, expanding, and adapting to formal infection prevention protocols.

Medical Supplies Market – Competitive Landscape

Some of the key players operating in the medical supplies market include B. Braun Melsungen AG, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Cardinal Health, Inc., Halyard Health, Inc., Johnson & Johnson, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Baxter International Inc., and 3M Company among others. Key players are adopting inorganic growth strategies such as merger and acquisition to retain their position in the market. For instance, in 2017, Becton Dickinson completed the acquisition of C.R. Bard, Inc., both companies will lead a position to improve the treatment of disease for patients and the process of care for health care providers. Furthermore, in April 2018, B. Braun Melsungen AG started five new and enhanced production plants and other administrative buildings in Penang to manufacture medical devices for infusion therapy and surgical instruments for the treatment of patients in Malaysia and across the world.

Medical Supplies Market – Taxonomy

By Product Type