External defibrillators are expected to grow in the global market at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 6% over the period 2010 – 2017 to exceed $ 2.2 billion by 2017, primarily driven by the professional automated segment.
The market for manual defibrillators used in hospital setups will grow at a rate of 4% to about $ 896.5m in 2017, while the professional AED market is expected to surpass the manual defibrillator market, growing at a CAGR of 11% to reach about $ 836.9m in 2017.
The expected increase can be attributed to high global incidence rates of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), government legislations promoting external defibrillator installation programs and opportunities for penetration in emerging markets.
Global External DefibrillatorsMarket Dominated by the US and Japan
The US and Japan together accounted for 64.3% of the total external defibrillator market revenues in 2010.
The US external defibrillator market, valued at around $ 620.9m in 2010, is the largest market by country for these devices. The high incidence rate of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in the US is the major reason for the increased focus of the government and other medical associations on these devices. This market has seen rapid growth over the past decade because of large scale programs for public access to AEDs. Regulations for such installations were passed in all 50 states of the US, which included the increased availability of external defibrillators to hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS).
The second largest market in terms of revenue is Japan, with revenues worth $ 317m in 2010. Legislations were passed in Japan in 2004 for large scale installations of AEDs following the unexpected deaths of people due to SCA. The government of Japan went further by enabling the use of these devices by untrained bystanders, thus spurring rapid growth during the period 2004 – 2008.
External Defibrillators MarketDriven by Widespread Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Programs
A factor that is driving growth within the external defibrillators market is the large-scale contracts for the public installation of AEDs that are being undertaken to prevent fatal outcomes from SCAs.
While these public installation programs are becoming increasingly popular in the developed markets of the US, Europe and Japan, the emerging markets of Brazil, India and China are catching up as well. Guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and resuscitation councils of countries worldwide provide evidence to support the necessity of widespread AED installations and response training to improve survival rates from SCA. Survival could increase from as low as 5% to about 48 – 74% if the patient is provided with the first shock within three to five minutes.
These guidelines, along with increasing public awareness, have been instrumental in pushing government legislation mandating initiatives to install AEDs at all high-risk public places, and at the same time to equip hospitals and EMS teams with the minimum number of required defibrillators. Given the need for public installations in proportion to the population, largely under-penetrated emerging markets will play an important role in the growth of this market in the future.
